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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


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IM 


1^ 

1^ 


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2.2 


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14    III  1.6 


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Photographic 

Sciences 
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n 
n 
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n 


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Coloured  covers/ 
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Covers  damaged/ 
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I      I    Coloured  pages/ 


n 

D 
D 

D 


D 


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10X 

14X 

I8X 

22X 

26X 

30X 

y 

12X 

16X 

20X 

24X 

28X 

32X 

! 

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to  the  generosity  of: 

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Archives  of  Canada 


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g6n6rosit6  de: 

La  bibliothdque  des  Archives 
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conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


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or  illustrated  impression. 


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la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — ^>  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED "),  or  the  symbol  V  (metming  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


IJn  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  Ie 
cas:  Ie  symbole  — »-  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  Ie 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 


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beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmds  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  Ie  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  il  est  film^  d  partir 
de  Tangle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  Ie  nombre 
d'images  n^cessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illuetrent  la  mdthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

I 


I 


I 


1 


"CADILLAC'S  village: 


OR 


"DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


■>  M 


WITH 


LIST  OF  PROPERTY  OWNERS 


AND 


A  History  of  the  Settlement 


1701  TO  1710. 


COMPILED  BY 
C.  M.  BURTON 
DETROIT,  1896. 


w 


A  series  of  articles  prepared  by  me  for  the  Sunday  Nficft-Tnbunc  of 
Detroit,  and  which  appeared  in  that  paper  during  the  summer  of  1896,  have 
been  arranged  into  the  form  of  a  pamphlet  for  better  preservation  and  dis- 
tribution, among  those  who  are  interested  in  the  study  of  Detroit's  early 
history.  Notwithstanding  a  good  deal  of  labor  has  been  expended  in  attempt- 
ing to  make  this  a  perfect  work,  1  am  painfully  aware  that  it  contains  many 
errors,  but  I  am  also  certain  that  it  contains  a  vast  i  amount  of  entirely  new 
historical  matter,  that  can.  and  probably  will,  be  used  by  other  students 
than  myself. 

The  Kev.  Christian  Denissen,  concerning  whose  work  I  have  spoken 
more  at  large  in  the  following  pages,  has  consented,  at  my  urgent  request, 
to  correct  ia  few  of  the  mistakes  in  my  work,  and  I  have  gladly  availed   my- 
self of  his  assistance,  and  have  added  his  work  as  a  supplement  to  my  own. 
Detroit,  Nov.  20,  189G.  C.  M.  BUllTON. 


i    i 


I 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


A  List  of  Property  Owners  and  a  History  of  the  Settlement 

from   1701  to  1710. 


The  early  history  of  0?troit  is 
scarcely  known.  The  recorrls  that 
contain  its  story  are  to  he  found  In 
Montroal,  Quebec  and  Paris.  Maclt- 
Inac  was  established  long  before  Da- 
trcit  was  thought  of,  but  iL  existed 
merely  as  a  missionary  post,  and  as  a 
rendez\ous  for  voyag-eurs  and  a  depot 
for  supplies  for  the  Indian  .rade.  It 
was  never  a  colony,  and  no  thought  of 
colonization  was  ever  coupled  with  its 
name,  nor  was  it  established  or 
maintained  witli  any  expectation  that 
a  colony  would  be  founded.  It  was 
so  far  north,  and  the  climate  was  so 
cold  that  there  was  no  certainty  of  a 
corn  crop  any  year,  and  Indian  corn 
was  the  only  bread  food  that  Wi  • 
raised  until  after  the  establishment  of 
Detroit  The  Indians  frieiidly  to 
French  interests  were  all  living  in  the 
north,  for  they  had  been  driven  from 
this  part  of  the  country  by  the  Iio- 
((uois  in  the  long  series  of  wars,  which 
immediately  preceded  the  (.stablish- 
mcnt  of  a  military  post  at  this  point. 

Antoine  de  la  Mothe  Cadillac  had 
been  the  commandant  at  i-lackinac 
from  1694  to  1G98,  and  while  occupyins 
that  ijosition  had  cast  his  eye  south- 
v.-ard  as  a  better  location  ».han  Mack- 
inac for  founding  a  colony.  With  the 
foresight  of  a  skillful  diplomat  he  rea- 
soned that  the  location  of  a  perman- 
ent colony  on  the  Detroit  river  would 
tend  to  keep  the  English  from  trading 
among  the  upper  or  French  Indians 
and,  moreover,  If  the  post  once  estab- 


lished was  properly  managed,  tlie 
commandant  could  draw  aioupd  it  all 
the  Indians  of  the  west,  and  ihui; 
numbers,  added  to  the  strength  of  a 
French  garrison,  would  compel  a  peace 
v.'ith  the  warlike  Iroquois.  He  was 
light  In  his  reasonings  and  if  his  plans 
had  been  carried  out  as  ho  laid  them 
one  may  reasonably  think  that  the 
French  power  would  still  be  strong  in 
America.  •Having  obtained  pi:imissio.''i 
from  his  government  to  found  a  col- 
<  iiy  at  Detroit,  he  set  out  on  his  er- 
rand in  the  spring  of  1701,  and  reached 
the  site  of  the  future  city  on  the  24tis 
of  July.  The  palisades,  at  once 
erected  for  the  post,  inclosed  an  arpent 
of  land,  a  French  acre  of  192  leet  on  a 
side. 

HUNTING   FOR   FURS. 

Most  of  the  business  carried  on  in 
this  western  country  was  hunting  the 
fur-bearing  animals,  prepariuK  their 
furs  for  market,  and  trai. spoiling 
tliem  to  Montreal.  Kut  '.he  hunters 
had  to  live,  and  a  trade  was  carried 
on  between  the  latter  place  and  the 
upper  country,  as  this  was  i-alled,  by 
means  of  canoes  and  bateaux.  These 
canoes  were  loaded  at  Montreal  antl 
brought  to  Detroit  either  ov^r  the  Ot- 
tawa river  away  up  north,  coming 
down  through  the  Georgian  bay,  or 
through  the  Niagara  route,  ever  the 
Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie.  The  latter 
loute  was  the  easier  of  th-.'  two,  for 
there  was  but  one  portage  at  Niagara 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


Falls,  while  over  the  Otlav.-a  routo 
there  wore  at  least  30  portag^.i. 

Tlie  first  trip  Cail'llac  miulo  was  over 
the  Ottawa  route,  for  the  Fr'.nch  gov- 
ernment feareil  that  ,he  Irorjuois  In- 
dians woiilil  attack  him  if  ne  went  on 
tlio  Xiapara  route,  but  the  next  year, 
1702.  there  wns  less  fear  of  inese  war- 
like Indians  and  the  shorter  and  easier 
road  was  taken. 

There  were  traders,  capitalists  in  a 
small  way  in  Montreal,  who  fitted  out 
tliese  canoe  loads  of  merchaniMse  and 
t'ent  them  to  the  upper  country.  On? 
01  these  merchants  would  employ  a 
trustworthy  voyag-eur  who  might,  per- 
haps, have  an  interest  in  uie  enter- 
prise, to  fit  out  an  expedition  to  the 
upper  country.  The  canoe  ocing  load- 
ed, ag'-eemPnts  i:r  contracts  were  made 
with  a  sutticient  number  of  men  to  con- 
duct the  enterprise.  All  these  agree- 
ments and  contracts  with  the  employes 
were  reduced  to  writing  before  a  no- 
tary in  Montreal.  If  the  parlies  were 
able  to  write  they  signed  their  names 
to  the  agreements,  and  if  they  were  il- 
literate, that  fact  was  slatea  in  the 
contract.  These  contracts  were  re- 
tained by  the  notary,  and  now  lorm 
one  of  the  best  evidences  of  tne  early 
life  of  this  first  western  colony. 

I  have  thousands  of  these  agree- 
ments, extending  from  IGSO  to  I'lUO,  and 
tliey  contain  not  only  the  names  of  the 
early  voyageurs,  but  their  placesof  res- 
idence and  occupations,  dates  ■)(  their 
visits  to  the  western  country,  times 
and  terms  of  employment,  a.id  lhi>j' 
frequently  show  the  value  of  services 
and  commodities  and  the  volume  of 
trade  carried  on. 

SPRANG   UP,    AS  IF   BY   MAGIC. 

To  the  Indians,  the  advent  of  Cadil- 
lac, with  his  little  troop,  was  a 
revelation,  and  it  worked  a  revo- 
lution. The  little  village  sprang  up 
as  if  by  magic,  and  the  Indians 
flocked  to  It  from  all  sides,  from  all 
quarters  they  came,  singly  and  In 
nations.  What  on  the  23rd  of  July, 
1701,  was  a  wilderness,  and  on  the 
next  day  was  a  houseless  city  of  100 
souls,    in    eight    months    time    was    a 


rival  of  Montreal  and  Quebec  in  trade, 
had  a  population  of  6,000  beings,  and 
was  the  metropolis  of  \merlca.  The 
Indians,  tar  outnumbering  the  whites, 
were  encouraged  to  settle  around  the 
fort,  and  their  villages,  four  or  five 
ill  number,  wf^re  above  and  below 
the   palisaded    inclosure. 

The  next  three  years  were  devoted 
to  the  building  up  of  the  village  and 
putting  on  a  firm  foundation  the  work 
already  laid  out.  The  lots  within  the 
palisades  were  all  very  small,  gen- 
erally about  20x2Zi  feet,  and  probably 
entirely  covered  by  buildings.  The 
civilians  owned  their  own  houses, 
while  those  of  the  soldiers  belonged 
to  Cadillac.  To  the  soldiers  small 
gardens  of  half  an  acre  each  were 
fenced  off,  a  short  distance  east  of 
the  Inclosure  and  fronting  on  the  east 
side  of  Randolph  street,  between  the 
river  end  Fort  street. 

CITY'S    ANCIENT    BOUNDS. 

It  was  not  until  1704  that  the  found- 
er obtained  permission  to  make  con- 
veyances of  the  lands  in  and  around 
the  village,  though  It  is  very  prob- 
able that  the  persons  who  took  pos- 
session of  parcels  before  that  date, 
and  built  on  or  cultivated  them,  did 
so  with  the  tacit  understanding  that 
their  titles  would  be  confirmed  some 
day.  By  the  time  Cadillac  had  ob- 
tained permission  to  make  transfers 
to  his  inhabitants,  the  boundary  lines 
of  the  village  had  grown  too  small, 
and  so  the  palisades  were  set  farther 
out,  and  new  palisades  built,  to  In- 
clude a  more   extended   territory. 

The  principal  street  of  the  village 
was  Ste.  Anne  street,  running  about 
parallel  to  the  present  Jefferson  ave- 
nue, and  occupying  nearly  the  north- 
erly line  of  that  thoroughfare,  so 
that  the  southern  tier  of  lots  and 
St.  Louis  street  fell  entirely  in  that 
street. 

The  westerly  line  was  not  far  from 
the  present  line  of  Shelby  street,  and 
the  easterly  line  was  a  short  distance 
west  of  Griswold  street.  At  the  east- 
erly end,  and  at  first  without  the 
palisades,    was    a    church,    occupyine 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


Iho  Rrour.d,  on  which  Is  the  present 
banking  house  of  A.  Ives  &  Sons. 
When  the  vlllape  limits  were  extend- 
ed, the  line  was  moved  to  the  east  and 
wesit  and  reached  to  Griswold  street  on 
the  east,  and  Wayne  street  on  the 
west.  The  conveyances,  made  by 
Ciidlllac  during  the  remainder  of  his 
stay  in  the  place,  were  forwarded  by 
him  to  the  colonial  office,  and  are  now 
deposited  in  the  department  of  mar- 
ines. In  Paris.  Of  all  these  convey- 
ances, I  have  a  complete  copy,  and 
have  undertaken  to  arrange  them  in 
a  manner  to  construct  a  map  of  De- 
troit, as  it  was  in  1708.  The  arrange- 
ment of  these  tracts  so  as  to  form 
a  village  plat,  has  been  a  task  of  no 
small  proportions,  and  has  been  ac- 
complished only  after  weeks  of  dill- 
gent   study. 

VILLAGE  ON   HIGH   GROUND. 

It  may  be  that  this  map  is  faulty. 
I  have  no  doubt  that  It  is,  in  some 
particulars.  But  it  will  do  as  a 
foundation  to  work  from,  and  a  bet- 
ter one  may  be  constructed  here- 
after, when  more  information  can  be 
obtained  from  which  to  work.  I  am 
better  pleased  with  the  form  of  the 
village,  as  Indicated  on  this  map, 
than  with  any  published  map  of  later 
date. 

In  order  to  prove  the  accuracy  of 
the  map,  I  had  it  traced  on  the  pres- 
ent city  map,  and  find  the  lines  of 
lots  existing  before  the  fire  of  1805, 
many  of  which  still  serve  as  boundary 
lines  of  present  buildings,  coincide 
very  nearly  with  the  Cadillac  con- 
veyances. The  map  also  Indicates 
that  the  southerly  line  of  the  village 
was  nearly  the  center  line  of  Jeffer- 
son avenue,  and  was  thus  on  a  high 
ground,  while  all  other  maps  I  have 
seen  indicate  the  southerly  line  as 
south  of  Jefferson  avenue,  on  the 
verge   of   the   slope   toward    the   river. 

It  seems  to  me  reasonable  that  the 
palisades  would  not  be  driven  in  a 
hillside,  and  hence,  that  my  con- 
ception of  the  village  plat  is  more 
rational  than  the  ideas  of  those  who 
have  platted  the  village  on  the  verge 
of  the  hill. 


Now,  about  the  real  estate  owners, 
and  the  prices  they  paid  for  the  prop- 
erty owned  by  them.  We  must  under- 
stand that  iho  real  e.state  itself  was 
of  no  great  value.  There  were  mil- 
lions of  acres,  unclaimed  and  un- 
cultivated, to  be  had  for  the  asking. 
so  tnat  the  prices  derived  by  Cadillac 
from  his  sales  are  really  the  prices 
which  the  purcha.sers  were  willing  to 
pay  for  the  protection  afforded  by 
his  government,  and  by  the  palisades. 
Cadillac  was  the  seigneur,  or  lord, 
and  had  applied  for  the  office  and 
title  ot  marquis  of  Detroit;  and  these 
little  parcels  of  land  he  sold  were 
ulsposed  of  on  condition  that  the  pur- 
chaser should  occupy  or  cultivate, 
or  retain  possession  of.  In  person  or 
by  tenant,  and  should  pay  to  the 
lord,  an  annual  stipend. 

This  was  not  great,  but  it  was  suffi- 
cient to  keep  the  palisades  in  repair, 
to  maintain  the  soldiery,  and  provide 
for  Cadillac  and  his  family.  Perhaps 
the  revenues  would  not  be  sufficient 
to  do  aP  this,  but  It  did  a  part,  and 
there  were  other  souri-es  o»  revenue 
on  which   the  lord  could  depend. 

The  trade  of  the  post  was  In  his 
hands,  for  some  years,  and  a  con- 
siderable revenue  was  obtained  in 
this  manner.  The  Company  of  the 
Colony  had  the  exclusive  right  to 
the  trade  at  Detroit  at  one  time, 
and  during  this  period,  Cadillac  had 
a  salary  of  2,000  livres,  and  was  not 
obliged  to  maintain  the  soldiers  at 
his  expense.  A  llvre  was  a  French 
coin  of  the  value  of  20  cents,  but  at 
this  time  the  relative  value  of  this 
motley  was  greater  than  at  the  present 
time. 

WINDMILL  GRINDS  THE  CORN. 

The  company  did  not  want  Detroit 
colonized.  They  preferred  to  have  the 
country  devoted  to  hunting,  rather 
than  to  agriculture,  but  they  gave  up 
everything  ic  Cadillac  in  ft05,  and 
after  that  date  the  whole  expense  of 
the  government  fell  on  his  shoulders. 

There  was  another  expense  that  fell 
alike  on  Cadillac  and  the  inhabitants, 
and   that  was  the  maintenance  of  the 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


cluirch  and  the  priest.  The  church 
llscir,  iitid  all  the  vestments  and 
1  arapIu'riinHa,  liclonKed  to  Cadillac, 
a^s  hl.s  individual  property.  A  large 
portion  of  the  expense  of  maintain- 
ing the  parish  prU  st  was  also  borne 
by  him,  but  the  inhabitants  paid  a 
purl.  Taxes,  as  we  tinderstand  them, 
wt  re  unltnown  to  the  people  of  th^t 
ilay,  but  those  traders  who  came  to 
Detroit  solely  to  trade,  and  who  did 
not  reside  here,  were  compelled  to 
pay  something  for  the  church  privl- 
leires  that  they  enjoyed.  Cadillac  own- 
ed the  public  mill— a  windmill— used 
to  Krind  corn  and  wheat.  This  re- 
turned a  yearly  net  revenue  of  500 
crowns. 

EARLY   LAND   RENTALS. 

On  the  accompanying  map  I  have 
idaced  numbers  on  the  various  lots 
to  conform  to  fhe  report  made  by  Cad- 
illac. They  do  not  agree  with  the  or- 
der of  alienation,  but  all  the  trans- 
fers were  made  between  1707  and  1710. 
The  names  of  the  purchase.-s,  arr.anged 
according  to  the  numbers  on  the  map, 
are  also  given,  with  the  consideration 
for  each  iiarcel.  The  names  are 
sometimes  indefinite,  for  these  French- 
men liad  curious  habits  of  changing 
tlieir  name,  passing  by  different  names 
at  different  times,  and  even  In  the 
little  village  Cadillac  did  not  seem  to 
know  the  first  names  of  all  his  peo- 
ple, as  frequent  references  are  made 
such  as  "a  man  named  Rencontre," 
"a  man    named    Beauregard." 

Generally,  when  a  parcel  of  land 
was  conveyed,  there  were  two  items 
in  the  consideration  required.  First, 
a  fixed  rental,  payable  every  year  and 
probably  accejjted  in  lieu  of  all  taxes, 
except  (he  tithes  for  maintaining  the 
church,  and  second,  a  certain  sum 
which  Cadillac  required  for  privileges 
extended  to  the  purchaser,  as  for 
Instance,  suppose  the  purchaser  was 
a  blacltsmitli.  Cadillac  having  the 
exclusive  right  of  trading  at  the  post, 
would  grant  this  purchaser  the  right 
of  blacksmithing  to  the  exclusion  of 
all   others,    and    would   receive   an   ex- 


tra compensation  for  this  privilege. 
The  ownership  of  the  land  remained 
in  Cadillac,  and  no  man  was  entitled 
tc  his  lot  unless  he  took  and  main- 
tained actual  possession  of  It.  If  he 
abandoned  It,  it  reverted  to  Cadillac, 
and  he  sold  it  to  some  other  per- 
son. 

From  refeiences  in  some  of  the  con- 
veyances, it  appears  that  there?  were 
transfers  made  to  ])arties  not  included 
in  the  report.  We  know  that  a  man 
named  Roucherville,  and  another 
named  St.  Aubin  owned  lands,  but 
we  do  not  have  tle.r  deeds. 

Cadillac's  conveyances  were  not  con- 
fined ti.  il-e  vdlage.  He  granted  a 
good  many  farms  and  the  boundary 
lines  of  these  tracts  can  be  as  dis- 
tinctly traced  as  If  made  today.  These 
farmers  lived  within  the  palisades, 
for  It  was  sometimes  dangerous  to 
live,  unprotected  by  soldiers.  The 
farmers  liad  rents  to  pay  for  the  farm 
lands,  similar  to  the  Inhabitants 
of  the  village.  But  where  a 
farmer  had  two  i)laces,  one  in 
tlic  country,  and  one  in  the  city,  a 
different  and  lower  rate  of  rents  was 
demanded.  This  list  doubtless  con- 
tains "h"  names  o.  the  most  influen- 
tial of  the  first  settlers  of  Detroit, 
and  many  of  them  are  familiar  as 
the  ancestors  of  tlie  families  of 
French  descent,  still  remaining  with 
us. 

I  give  the  name  of  the  lot  owner, 
the  number  of  his  lot  and  the  date 
of  the  conveys  nee  and  consideration 
paid. 

(iV(?  ^fap  on  opposite  page.) 

DETROIT'S  ORIGINAL.  COLONISTS. 

1— Pierre  Cliesnp,  March  in.  1707.  for  :i 
livres  rent  and  10  llvrea  for  other  rights 
srlven  up,  all  payable  in  furs,  or  In  such 
coined  money  as  may  be  current. 

2— Andie  Cliouet.  dit  Cameraud.  March  10, 
1707,  for  3  livres  rent  and  10  livres  for  other 
rlKhts 

3— Pierre  Taverau,  dlt  La  Grandeur, 
March  10,  1707,  for  38  sols  rent  and  10  livres 
for  other  rights.  This  lot  was  afterwards 
conveyed  to  Robert  Germain.  A  sol,  or 
sou,   was  a  small  coin,  or  penny. 


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DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC, 


4— .Idsepli  Despro.  or  Depre,  March  10, 
1707,  for  2  llvres  rent  and  10  llvres  for  other 
rights, 

5— Solomon  Joseph  Dvs  Vestln,  March  10, 
1707,  for  40  sols  rent  and  10  llvres  for  other 
riRhts.  This  lot  was  sold  to  Richnrd  le 
Michel    IJizailluii. 

6— Pierre  I>KPr,  dit  Parlsien,  March  10, 
1707,  for  40  sols  rent  and  10  llvres  for  other 
rights.  This  lot  was  sold  to  Jacques  Car- 
dinal. 

7— Bonaventure  Corhplen,  dit  L'Esper- 
ance.  March  10,  1707,  for  24  sols  rent 
and  10  llvres  for  other  rights.  This  lot  was 
sold  to  Francis  L.ivernols. 

8— Jacob  de  Marsac,  dit  Desrocher. 
March  10,  1707,  for  3  llvres  and  2  sols  rent 
and  10  llvres  for  other  rights. 

9— Ms.  D'Argenteuii.  March  10,  1707.  for 
50  sols  rent  and  10  livres  for  other  rights. 
This  lot  waiJ  sold   to  Nicolas  Ro-se. 

10— Jean  Richard,  March  10,  1707,  for  40 
sols  rent  and  10  livres  for  other  rights.  This 
lot  w.as  abandoned  and  afterward  granted  to 
Jacques  Hubert. 

11— Jean  Labatler,  dit  Champaign, 
March  10,  1707,  2  llvres  rent  and  10  livres 
for  other  rights.  This  man's  name  is  given 
in  another  place  as  Abatis.  This  lot  was 
surrendered   March  27,    1709. 

12— Estlenne  Boutron,  dit  Major,  March  10, 
1707.  3  llvres  rent  and  10  livres  for  other 
rights.  This  lot  reverted  to  Cadillac  and 
was  newly  granted  to  Antoine  Magnant. 

13— Pierre  Hemard,  March  10,  1707,  for  50 
sols  rent  and  10  livres  for  other  rights.  This 
lot   was  sold  to  Jacques  Hubert. 

14 — Antoine  Dupuis,  dit  Beauregard.  March 
10,  1707,  3  livres  rent  and  10  livres  for  other 
rights.  This  lot  was  sold  to  Jean  Bap- 
tiste    Duplessis. 

1.5— Jacques  Ijanglois,  March  10,  1707,  for 
6  livres  and  10  sols  rent  and  10  llvres  for 
other  rights. 

16— Gulllaume  Bouet,  dit  Deliard,  March 
10,  1707,  for  2  llvres  and  10  .sols  rent,  and 
10  livves  for  other  rights.  This  lot  was 
subsequently    sold    to    Pierre    Robert. 

17— Michel  Masse,  March  10,  1707,  for  8 
llvres  and  8  sols  rent  and  10  livres  (or 
other  rights. 

IS— Michel  Canipo,  March  10,  1707,  for  5 
llvres  and  6  sols  rent  and  10  livres  for  other 
rights. 

19— Louis  Normanii,  March  10.  1707.  for  2 
livres  and  10  sols  rent  and  10  llvres  for 
other  rights.  This  was  subsequently  sold  to 
Alexis  Lemoine. 


^0— Francois  Tesee.  March  10,  1707,  for  40 
sols  rent  and  10  llvres  for  other  rlght:i.  On 
the  20th  of  June,  1710,  this  parcel  was  con- 
veyed  to  Antoine  Carriere. 

21— Pierre  Chantelon,  March  10,  1707,  for 
56  sols  rent  and  10  llvres  for  other  rights. 
This  lot  was  later  conveyed  to  Jean  Le 
Soeur. 

22— Francois  Bienvenue,  dit  de  L'Isle, 
March  10.  1707,  for  3  llvres  rent,  and  10 
livres  for  other  rights.  Many  descendants 
of  this  man  still  live  in  and  around  Detroit. 
They  generally  go  by  the  name  of  Dellsle, 
and  some  of  them  have  coupled  the  two 
names  together,   as  Bienvenue-Dellsle. 

2S_pierre  Est  eve,  March  10,  1707,  for  50  sols 
rent  and  10  llvres  for  other  rights. 

24-Bliiise  Surgere,  March  10,  1707.  for  3 
livres   rent  and  10  llvres  for  other  rights. 

25_pierre  Porrler,  March  10.  1707,  for  50 
sols  rent  and  10  llvres  for  other  rights. 

2fi— Antoine  Ferron,  March  10,  1707,  for  40 
sols  rent,   and  10  livres  for  other  rights. 

27— Pierre  Tacet,  March  10,  1707.  for  50  sols 
rent  and  10  livres  for  other  rights.  This 
was  afterwards  f>old  to  Jean  Coutent. 

28— Francois  Fafard  de  Lorme,  March  10. 
1707.  for  4  llvres  and  10  sols  rent,  and  10 
llvres  for  other  rights. 

29— Michel  Disier.  March  10,  1707,  for  50 
sols   rent  and   10  livres  for  other  rights. 

30— Jacob  de  Marsac,  March  10,  1707.  for 
40  sols  rent  and  10  llvres  for  other  rights. 
This   lot   was   sold   to   Charles   Charon. 

31 — "A  man  named  Rencontre."   March  10, 

1707.  for  ,50  sols  rent  and  10  livres  for  other 
privileges.  There  was  a  "Rencontre"  street 
in  the  village,  which.  I  suppose  took  its 
name    from    this   person. 

32 — "A  man  named  Desloriers,"  March  10. 

1708.  for  50  sols  rent  and  10  livres  for  other 
rights. 

33— A  man  named  Xalntonge.  March  10, 
170S.  for  50  sols  rent  and  10  livrcS  for  other 
rights.  Tlie  name  seems  to  indicate  that 
the  owner  of  this  parcel  was  an  Indian, 
though  it  would  not  be  very  likely  that  an 
Indian  would  pay  rent,  or  would  follow  a 
trade.  He  sold  a  lot  to  "  a  man  named 
Bouche.' 

34 — Jacques  Du  Moulin.  March  10,  1708, 
for  3  llvres  rent  and  10  llvres  for  other 
righta. 

35 — Guilleaume  Aquef,  dit.  Laporte,  March 
10.  1708,  .'or  50  sols  rent  and  10  livres  for 
other  rights.  This  grantee  in  other  places  is 
named  Aquenet.  Pierre  Chesne,  who  owned 
the  lot  on  Ste.  Anne  street,   adjacent  to  this 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


<1 


lot.  purchased  it,  thus  giving  him  two 
frontiit^es.  one  on  Ste.  Anne  and  the  other 
on  St.  Joachim  street. 

Pierre  Chesne  (or  Chene,  as  it  is  now 
commonly  called),  was  one  of  the  most 
Important  men  of  that  early  day,  and 
many  of  his  descendants  still  reside  in 
Detroit. 

3fJ— Louis  Gustineau.  March  10,  1708,  for 
50  sols   rent  and   10  livres  for  other  rights. 

37— Joseph  Parent,  March  10,  1707.  for  3 
llvrfcs  rent  and  10  livres  for  other  rights. 
Parent  was  a  blacksmith.  It  has  been 
stated  by  some  who  have  written  regarding 
IJetroit's  early  history,  that  Parent  and 
Pierre  Roy  were  living  among  the  Indians 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Detroit  before  the 
arrival  of  Cadillac  and  his  party,  and  con- 
sequently that  they  were  the  first  white 
people    here. 

38— Martin  Ririer,  March  10,  1707.  tor  3 
livres  rent  and  10  livres  for  other  rights. 
Nicolas  Rivard,  afterwards  purchased  this 
parcel. 

.39— Qullenchlve.  March  10.  1707.  for  SO.aols 
rent  and  10  livres  for  other  rights.  Tlie 
grantee  was  an  Indian  chief,  I  think,  and 
he  afterward.^  sold  the  parcel  to  Julien 
Dervisseau. 

40— M.  Derance,  March  10,  1707,  for  30  sols 
rent   and   10  livres   for  other  rights. 

41— Du  Figuier.  March  10.  1707,  for  54  sols 
rent  and  10  livrew  for  other  rights.  The  lot 
was  surrendered  by  Du  Figuier  and  resold 
to    Paul    Guillet. 

42— La  Montagne.  called  Pierre  Mouet, 
March  10,  1707,  for  4  livres,  10  sols  rent 
and  10  livres  for  other  rights.  Baptlste 
Trudeau  subsequently  purchased  this  prop- 
erty. 

43— Pierre  Mallet,  March  10,  17u7,  for  8 
li\res  rent   and   10  livres  for  other   rights. 

44— Antoine  Dufre.sne.  March  14,  1708,  for  5 
livres  rent   and   10   livres  for  other   rights. 

45— Jean  Baptiste  Chornlc.  March  10,  1708, 
for  32  sols  rent  and  10  livres  for  other 
rights.  Subsequently  transferred  to  Jean 
Chevalier. 

46— Jean  Casse.  March  10,  1708,  for  50  soU 
rent  and  10  livres  for  other  rights.  Sold 
to   Zacharie    Plante. 

47— Paul  Langlois,  March  10,  1707.  for  50 
sols   rent   and   10  livres   for  other  rights. 

48— Jerome  Marliard,  March  10,  1707,  for 
40   sols  rent   and  10  livres   for  other   rights. 

4S— Andre  Bombardle,  March  10,  1707i  for 
50  sols  rent  and   10  livres   for  other  rights. 


50— Pierre  Du  Roy.  March  10,  1707.  for 
i  livres  rent  and  10  livres  for  other  rights. 

51— Pierre  Roy,  March  10,  1707,  for  3  livres 
18  sols  rent  and  10  livres  for  other  rights. 

52— Piancols  Marque,  March  10,  17'J7,  for 
26  sols  rent  and  10  livres  for  other  rights. 
Jean    Paquet    pu.chased    this    lot. 

53— Antoine  Magnant.  March  20.  1708,  for 
5  livres  rent   and  10   livres   for  other  rights, 

54— Francois  Bonne,  July  7.  1708,  at  5 
livres  rent  and  10  livres  for  other  rights. 

55— Toussaints  Dardennes.  March  20,  1708, 
at  30  sols  rent  and  10  livres  for  other  rights. 

56— Pierre  Bassinet.  March  20,  1708,  at 
20  sols  rent   and   10   livres  for   other  rights, 

57— Francois  Brunet.  June  20,  1708,  at  40 
sola   rent    and    10   livres    for    other    rights. 

58— Antoine  Beauregard,  July  17,  1708,  at 
i2  livres  rent  and  10  livres  for  other  riglits. 
This   was  surrendered   to   Cadillac. 

59— Marie  Le  Page,  March  20,  1707,  at  3 
livres  12  sols  rent  and  10  livres  for  other 
rights.  This  is  the  only  record  of  a  con- 
veyance to  a  woman  m  tne  early  Detroit. 
Madam  Le  Page  had  a  husband  living  at 
this  time,  but  subsequent  events,  as  well 
as  this  conveyance,  lead  me  to  think  that 
he  had  separated  from  her— probably  with 
just  cause.  Her  name  and  a  little  of  her 
history  appears   in   the   directory   below. 

60— Jacques  Campo,  March  1.  1709.  at  40 
sols  rent  and   10  livres  for  other  rights. 

61-Jean  Serond.  March  10,  1707,  at  50  sols 
rent  and  10  iivres  for  otlier  rights,  Joeepli 
Trudeau   bought   this   lot   subsequently. 

62— Pierre  Robert,  March  14.  1709.  at  6 
livres  rent  and   10  livres  for  other  rights. 

63— Larramee,  March  6,  1707,  for  50  sols 
rent  and  10  livres  for  other  rights. 

64— Rene  Le  Moine,  March  20,  1709,  at  40 
sols  rent  and   10   livres  for  other  rights. 

65 — Jacques  Le  Moine.  Sept.  1,  1706.  at 
40  sols  rent  and  10  livres  for  other  righiH. 

66— I'aul  C.ulilet,  Dec.  10,  1709,  at  0  livres 
rent    and    10    livres   for    otlier    riglits, 

67— Joseph  Rinard,  June  27,  1710,  at  30  sols 
rent  and   10  livres  for  other  rights. 

68— Antoine   Tuffe,   called   du   Fresne,   June 
28,    1710,    at    2    livres   rent    and    10   liv  es   for 
other  rights, 
CADILLAC'S     TENANT     FARMERS, 

Of  the  garden  lands  within  tlie  fort 
v,-e  have  tlie  record  of  only  two  trans- 
fer.s,  of  half  an  arpent  each,  one  to 
Beauregard  and  the  other  to  Dellsle. 
The  rate  of  rental  in  each  case  was 
1  sol  per  foot,  making  4  livres  and  10 


IS 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


Holfs.  The  price  fixes  the  size  of  a  lialf 
arpent  as  SO  feet  front. 

The  farm  lanclp,  ko  far  as  we  now 
know,  were  nearly  all  granted  up 
stream,  from  the  fort.  One  grant,  and 
the  only  one  of  which  we  had  positive 
Itnowledge,  up  to  the  discovery  of  the 
transfers  I  liave  recently  unearthed, 
was  to  de  Lorme.  This  farm  is  still 
call(  d  the  de  Lorme  farm,  '  from 
its  original  proprietor,  and  is 
situat(>  in  the  lownsiiip  of 
Grosse  Point  e,  a  short  distance 
east  of  the  present  water  worlds. 
Having  the  exact  location  of  this  farm, 
and  tiie  boundary  lines  of  the  others, 
it  v/ould  not  be  as  difflcult  a  task 
to  plari  out  tlic  Frencli  concessions 
as  ii  has  been  to  map  the  ancient  city. 

I  have  a  li?t  of  31  of  these  farm 
grants;  some  wore  made  to  lot  owners 
in  the  city.  The  list  of  grantees  is  as 
follows: 

1,  Piirre  Alallet;  2,  Francois  Fafard 
de  Lorme;  3,  liapliste  Gorion;  4,  Ja- 
cob de  Marsac;  G,  Andre  Bombardie;  6, 
Pierre  Hemard;  7,  iionaventure  Com- 
pien;  8,  Jerome  Marliara;  9,  Pierre  Es- 
teve;  10,  Estienne  Boutron;  11,  Antoine 
Dupuis;  12,  Joseph  Parent;  13,  Michael 
Dizier;  H,  Francois  Hosseron;  15,  Jacob 
de  Marsac;  10,  Antoine  Dupuis  (this  is 
tlie  same  as  No.  11,  above);  17,  Fran- 
cois Marque;  IS,  Jacques  L'Anglois;  li), 
Paul  L'Anglois;  20,  Antome  Texicr;  21, 
Francois  Jardis,  22,  Pierre  Chant2lor; 
23,  Jean  Richard;  24,  "a  man  named 
Laloiro,  25,  Pierre  Leger;  26,  "a 
man  named  Lefleur;"  27,  Micliel  Cam- 
pos; 28,  Jean  Durant;  29,  Blaise  Sur- 
gere;  30,  Francois  Masse;  31,  Damois- 
sell  Magdalaino  de  la  ^Mothe  (Cadil- 
lac's daughter),)  a  tract  of  land  extend- 
ing from  the  lliver  Ecorse,  three 
leagues,  9  mile.s,  witli  a  depth  of  nve 
leagues,  15  miles,  and  including  Grosse 
lie  and  all  other  islands  in  the  vicin- 
ity. 

In  addition  to  the  above  grants 
were  13  gardens,  of  half  an  arpent 
each,   as  follows: 

1,  Monsieur  Dargenteuil;  2,  Pierre 
Mallet;  3,  Jacob  de  Marsac;  4, 
Jacque.j  Langiois;  5,  Louis  Normand; 
6,  Pierre  Esteve;  7,  Jerome  Marller;  8, 


Michael    Disier;    9,    Estienne    Boutron; 

10,     Bonaventui'P     Compiens;     11,     

Chanlelor;  12,  Pierre  Porrier;  13.  Pierre 
Lpger. 

T  believe  that  the  above  lists  will 
give  the  names  of  every  resident  in 
Detroit  up  to  the  year  1708,  excepting 
only  the  priest,  the  officers  of  the 
company  and  the  soldiers. 

CADILLACS  HOMESTEAD. 

Where    did    Cadillac   live? 

I  cannot  answer  this  question  satis- 
factorily now,  though  I  think  he  lived 
on  the  northwest  corner  of  St.  Fran- 
cois and  Ste.  Anne  streets,  near  the 
church.  If  I  am  right  his  house  was  on 
what  is  now  the  north  side  of  Jeffer- 
son avenue,  lialf  way  between  Gris- 
wold  and  Shelby  streets,  about 
where        the        old  Masonic        hall 

stands.  You  will  observe  that  the 
properties  bringing  the  highest  prices 
were  those  on  Ste.  Anne  street,  in 
the  ^  immediate  vicinity  of  this 
land.  This  would  naturally  fol- 
low, if  the  house  of  the  com- 
mandant was  located  here,  St.  Anne 
street,  at  this  point,  was  the  Wood- 
ward avenue  of  the  little  city,  and 
here  the  aristocracy  lived  with  Cadillac 
m   their  midst, 

What  kind  of  houses  did  they  have? 

From  all  I  have  so  far  learned,  tlie 
modern  idea  of  a  log  house  was  un- 
kncwn  to  them.  I  think  their  houses, 
even  these  of  the  better  classes,  con- 
sisted of  stakes,  driven  into  the 
ground  as  closely  together  aa 
possible  and  the  interstices 

filled  with  mortar  or  mud. 
These  pickets  wore  cut  off,  even,  at 
the  top,  and  a  pitch-roof  of  split  rails 
put  on.  Sawing  lumber  by  hand  was 
too  liifhcult  a  job  to  permit  much 
sawed  lumber  to  be  used,  and  what 
could  be  thus  obtained  was  for  inter- 
ior  work,   doers,    sluitters,    etc. 

It  is  very  probable  that  no  houses 
had  windows,  except  thoso  of  the 
vvealthiest  citizens.  Glass,  for  win- 
dows, was  doubtless  very  scarce  and 
very  expensive.  I  can  find  no  certain 
tfcorti  that  there  was  any  glnss  win- 
dov/s  at  all,  though  in  the  description 


of  the  church  occurs  the  statement 
that  it  containefl  a  window  with  shut- 
tcre  and  sa.sh  frames  between,  "of 
20  squares,"  each.  The  squares  may 
refer  to  the  small  panes  of  glass,  com- 
mon even  until  a  few  years  since,  in 
church  window's. 

A  short  time  after  Cadillac  left  De- 
troit, to  l^ecome  governor  of  Louisi- 
ana, in  1711,  he  had  a  complete  inven- 
toiy  of  his  btlonging.s  in  Detroit,  made 
by  Pierre  Cheane  and  Anloine  Mag- 
nant,  and  the  priest,  Father  Cherubin 
Deniaux,  and  this  property  was  turned 
over  to  Pierre  Roy  for  safe  keeping. 
From  this  list  we  obtain  an  idea  of 
the  building-s  owned  by  Cadillac,  and 
1  append  their  full  description. 
CADILLAC'S  BUILDINGS. 
A  warehou.'ie  37i^  feet  long  and  22 
feet  wide,  8  feet  high,  boarded  top  and 
•bottom  with  thick  planks  of  oak,  the 
top  with  a  good  ridge  and  the  bottom 
with  square  Joints,  with  Us  shutters 
and  doors  and  locks  closing  with  a 
kiy,  and  a  wooden  staircase,  a  press 
for  pressing  furs,  a  counter,  three 
.shelves  for  books,  lined  with  boards 
for  one-fourth  of  the  height. 

Another  house  of  stakes  in  earth, 
33Vi  feet  long,  19  feet  wide  and  S  feet 
high,  half  of  planks  above,  with 
joints  in  a  good  ridge  and  the  rest  of 
stakes,  and  below,  half  of  beams  with 
square  joints,  half  mortised,  and  the 
other  part  of  split  stakes,  with  four 
cabinets,  with  their,  doors  and  locks 
closing  with  keys.  The  said  hou.se 
having  window  shutters  and  a  door 
closing  with  a  key. 

A  small  cellar  adjoining  the  said 
house,  boarded  below  with  split  stakes 
with  a  shutter  and  a  door  closing 
with  a  key.  Also  a  porch  at  the  door 
of  said  house  with  the  door  and  lock. 
Another  house  of  stakes  in  earth, 
lb  feet  long.  12%  wide,  CVi  high,  board- 
ed with  split  stakes  above,  and  below 
half  of  sawn  beams  with  square 
joints,  and  the  other  half  without 
boarding;  with  its  shutters  and  a  door 
closing  with  a  key.  Also  a  cabinet  In 
the  house,  with  a  door  and  Its  hinges, 
also    a     postern     outside    the    house, 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC.  18 

fram  ?(i  with  Its  lock.  Also  a  cellar  12^! 
feet  long  by  6  wide,  adjoining  the 
house,  with  a  door  and  its  iron  work. 

Another  inferior  house  of  stakes  in 
earth,  1(1  ft-et  long,  12  wide,  without 
either  door  or  shutters,  serving  as  a 
shed  for  cattle. 

Also  a  barn  50  feet  long  by  27  feet 
wide  and  11  high,  the  top  roofed  with 
wood,  having  its  tenons  broken,  with 
its  "battrier"  of  34  joists  and  partly 
worn  out.  surrounded  with  stakes  in 
earth    joined    together. 

Another  house  33  feet  long,  21  wide. 
9  high,  boarded  above  with  split  stakes! 
surrounded  with  stakes  in  earth,  nei- 
ther closing  with  a  door  nor  by  shut- 
ters, having  only  four  sashes  of  the 
shutters  and  the  two  side  timbers  of 
the  door. 

Also  a  dove  cote,  raised  on  four 
wooden  posts,  6  feet  high,  10  square, 
surrounded  with  oak  beams  two 
inches  thick,  with  square  joints,  cov- 
ered with  .straw,  the  two  gable  ends 
of  earth,   its  door  and   its  hinges. 

Also  an  ice  house  15  feet  square  and 
B  high  out  of  the  ground  and  15  feet 
deep  in  the  ground,  boarded  with  split 
beams,  with  its  door  closing  with  a 
key. 

Also  a  building  u.sed  as  a  church,  ,35 
feet  long,  24V^  wide,  10  high,  boarded 
entirely  above,  with  oak  Joists  in  a 
good  ridge,  and  below  of  beams  with 
square  joints;  with  its  doors,  windows 
and  shutters,  and  sash  frames  between 
of  20  squares  each,  the  whole  closing 
with  a  key. 

Also  a  her    y  bell. 

OCCUPATIONS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 

1  ht<ve  been  asked  what  the  people 
in  Detroit  did  during  tlie  period  of 
the  command  of  Cadillac.  At  first 
they  were  particularly  engaged  in 
putting  up  the  small  houses  that  serv- 
ed to  shelter  them  from  ;i;e  ra'n  and 
cold,  and  erecting  the  palisades  that 
protected  them  from  the  Indians.  At 
the  end  of  the  first  year  after  the 
founding  of  the  village,  and  on  the 
25th  of  September,  1'02,  Cadillac  sent 
a  report,  covering  5;>  closely  written 
pages    of    manuscript,    descriptive    of 


14 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


what  he  had  done  and  seen  around 
Detroit,  and  his  plans  for  the  future 
great  city.  His  letter  is  very  Inter- 
esting and  some  Ideas  can  be  ob- 
tained from  it  to  show  the  occupa- 
tions of  liis  colonist."?. 

T^he  palisades  he  had  erected  en- 
closed an  arpent  of  land,  making 
nearly  800  feet  of  ricket  line.  These 
pickets  were  small  trees,  six  or  eight 
inches  in  diameter,  driven  three  or 
four  feet  into  the  earth,  and  extend- 
ing some  12  to  15  feet  above  the 
ground.  There  were  no  women  at 
D  -oit  during  the  first  year,  and 
probably  the  men  huddled  together 
two  or  three  or  more  in  a  hut,  but 
as  time  went  on  and  women  began 
to  come  from  Quebec  and  Montreal 
to  join  their  husbands,  each  family 
had   its  own   house. 

Wild  fruit,  berries  and  nuts,  grew 
in  great  abundance,  and  the  people 
gathered  all  they  could  to  preserve 
for  the  coming  winter.  When  the 
convoy  left  Montreal  it  had  carried 
only  sufflcient  food  to  last  for  three 
months,  and  food  had  to  be  procured 
from  the  Indians  and  from  hunting, 
to  enable  the  people  to  live  until 
the  next  harvest  time.  They  had  ar- 
rived too  late  to  grow  any  crops 
for  the  fall  of  1701,  but  all  hands 
that  could  be  spared  were  set  at 
work,  preparing  the  soil  for  wheat, 
a  quantity  of  which  Cadillac  had 
brought  along  for  seed.  This  wheat, 
which  he  called  French  wheat,  was 
sown  on  the  7th  of  October,  1701,  and 
was  cut  on  the  21st  of  the  succeeding 
July.  The  land  was  not  properly  pre- 
pared, but  the  crop  was  good. 
THEY    TILLED   THE   VIRGIN   SOIL. 

In  the  spring  of  1702  he  attempted 
to  raise  some  spring  wheat,  but  was 
not  as  successful  as  with  his  fall 
sowing.  In  the  summer  of  1702  he 
had  land  prepared,  and  directed  Ton- 
ty,  his  lieutenant,  to  have  20  arpents 
sowed  by  the  20th  of  September. 
Twelve  arpents  were  sown  with  In- 
dian corn,  which  came  up  eight  feet 
high,  and  of  this  there  was  an  abund- 
ant crop.  Every  soldier,  and  there 
were  50  of  them,   had  a  small  garden 


of  half  an  acre  for  liis  own  cultiva- 
tion, and  the  civilians  cultivated  larger 
tr^-'cts  of  land,  so  that  in  the  winter 
of  1702,  there  were  besides  the  gar- 
dens, 60  arpents  of  wheat. 

Grapes  grew  in  abundance  along 
the  river  shore,  and  an  arpent  of 
land  was  set  apart,  tilled,  and  set 
out  with  the  choicest  grapevines,  in 
hopes  that  cultivation  would  improve 
the   fruit. 

To  use  Cadillac's  own  words:  "All 
this  is  no  easy  task,  as  everything 
has  to  be  carried  on  the  shoulders, 
for  wf  have  no  oxen  or  horses  yet 
to  draw  loads,  nor  to  plough,  and 
to  accomplish  it,  it  is  necessary  to  be 
very   active." 

The  Indians  were  induced  to  gather 
around  the  fort  and  form  settlements. 
Below  or  to  the  right  of  the  fort  were 
stationed  the  Hurons,  and  they  had 
cultivated  200  arpents  of  land,  prob- 
ably all  in  Indian  corn.  Above  the 
fort  were  the  Oppenagos  or  Wolves 
(Loups).  They  occupied  that  portion 
of  the  city  which  was  for  many  years 
known  as  the  King's  commons,  and 
after  the  lire  of  1S05  was  known,  and 
is  now  known,  as  the  governor  and 
judges'  plan.  When  Cadillac  permit- 
ted the  Oppenagos  to  occupy  this  land 
it  was  with  the  understanding  that 
they  should  remove  whenever  the  land 
was  needed  as  a  commons.  A  mile 
and  a  half  further  up  the  river  he 
located  four  tribes  of  the  Ottawas. 
The  Miamis  also  came  and  asked  for 
land  and  they  were  accommodated. 
A  truce  had  been  patched  up  between 
the  French  and  Indians  on  one  side 
and  the  Iroquois  on  the  other,  so  that 
the  Iroquois  came  to  the  settlement 
in  numbers,  but  they  did  not  remain 
there  as  the  other  tribes  did. 
FIRST  WHITE  WOMEN  SETTLERS. 

Madam  Cadillac  and  Tonty's  wife, 
the  first  white  women  of  the  west, 
came  In  the  spring  of  1702,  and  from 
this  time  on  families  began  to  come, 
and  those  men  who  were  already  at 
the  settlement  sent  for  their  wives 
and  children.  Everything  appearea 
very  prosperous  and  Cadillac  was  in 
good    spirits.     He    supposed    that    he 


^ 


'4 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


15 


owned  Detroit  and  that  the  trade  to 
be  carried  on  with  it  was  his,  but  in 
1703  he  learned  that  the  company  of 
the  colony  of  Canada  claimei  the 
trade  of  the  new  post,  and  ht  was 
obliged  to  surrender  his  rig'htp  to  the 
company.  Frb'm  this  company  he  re- 
ceived a  salary  as  commandant,  but 
his  interest  iM  the  prosperity  of  the 
post  was  gone  and  he  gave  littls  en- 
couragement to  people  at  Montreal 
and  Quebec  to  settle  at  the  new  place. 
He  made  great  efforts  to  regain  his 
lost  rights,  and  in  1705  he  was  en- 
tirely successful  and  the  company  was 
directed  to  return  to  him  everything 
that    he    had    before    possessed. 

Now  again  did  the  people  begin  to 
flock  to  Detroit.  More  people  came 
now  than  ever  before,  and  a  greater 
prosperity  seemed  to  attend  the  en- 
terprise. The  limits  of  the  village 
Inclosure  were  extended  to  permit  the 
erection  of  more  dwellings  for  the 
new  comers.  Lots  were  granted  to 
those  who  would  build  within  the  pal- 
isades, gardens  were  granted  to  those 
who  would  cultivate  them,  near  the 
fort,  and  farms  were  staked  off  for 
others  who  would  follow  that  pursuit. 
Every  man  had  his  occupation  and 
there  were  no  drones.  There  were 
farmers,  artisans  and  soldiers.  Every 
man  was  a  hunter  and  during  the 
hunting  season  one  may  well  conceive 
that  the  village  was  nearly  deserted 
and  that  only  a  sufllcient  numVer  re- 
mained to  protect  the  place  from  the 
savages.  In  1706  Cadillac  brought  three 
horses  and  10  head  -^f  cattle  to  the 
place.  Evidently  tw  ..  of  the  horses 
died,  for  in  1711  there  was  only  one 
horse,  named  Colin, "  remaining,  but 
the  cattle  multiplied  and  at  that  date 
there  were  29  animals  belonging  to 
Cadillac. 

PLEASURES  OP  THE  POST. 
While  the  lines  of  caste  were  pretty 
strictly  drawn  to  separate  Cadillac 
and  his  immediate  friends  and  com- 
panions from  the  soldiers  and  voy- 
ageurs,  the  latter  associated  on  friend- 
ly and  intimate  terms  with  the  Indi- 
ans.   The  unmarried  soldiers  were  en- 


couraged to  n'larry  the  Indian  women, 
and  a  close  study  of  the  parish  rec- 
ords of  Canada  incline  me  to  lu'lieve 
that  it  wa.-5  no  very  unoomnion  thing 
iur  a  citizen  to  have  left  behind  him 
a  lawful  wife  and  to  have  se'ected  an- 
other .11  Detroit  from  some  savage 
trilje.  I  cannot  in  any  other  way  t^c- 
count  for  the  disappearance  oi  some 
individual  at  Quebec  or  Montreal  or 
Batiscan  or  some  of  the  eastern  par- 
ishes, and  the  sudden  and  unexpected 
appearance  of  an  individual  of  the 
same  name,  whose  ancestry  is  the 
same,  or  is  undefined,  with  a  new  wife 
while  the  eastern  wife  is  still  in  the 
land  of  the  living.  The  collecting  to- 
gether of  all  the  parish  records  of 
Canada  has  disclosed  many  items  of 
this  nature. 

There  were  no  law  courts  or  judges 
In  this  city  in  the  wilderness  and  Cad- 
illac was  the  all  powerful  czar  of  the 
settlement.  Always  clad  in  military 
garments,  with  his  sword  clanging 
as  it  .struck  the  ground,  in  his  mili- 
tar.v  parade  through  the  etreets  of  the 
village,  all  hats  were  off  at  his  ap- 
proach and  he  owed  obedience  to  but 
one  individual— the  village  priest.  That 
*iword  practicing  was  one  of  the  jjleas- 
ures  of  the  post  is  very  evident  from 
•he  fact  that  wlien  Cadillac  left  De- 
li oit  there  were  18  swords  inventoried 
among  his  effects.  I  do  not  find  the 
record  of  any  musical  instruments 
and  yet  dancing  must  have  been  one 
mean.-;  of  whiling  away  the  long  win- 
ter evenings.  In  the  summer  time 
we  know  that  lacrosse  was  a  favorite 
frame  with  both  the  French  and  sav- 
ages, and  the  acquaintance  and 
Irlendship  originatini;  in  tlieir  sum- 
mer games  must  have  been  continued 
through  the  winter  in  something  of 
uniform  pleasure  to  both  classes. 
Tliere  could  be  no  sleigh  ride  parlies, 
for  there  were  no  horses,  but  possibly 
there  was  coasting  on  the  hillside  neat 
the  river,  and  I  find  in  Cadillac's 
property  an  account  of  one  hundred 
small  trumpets,  probably  used  to  stir 
up  the  enthusiasm  of  the  young  sav- 
ages  in    their   hours  of   amusement. 


ii 


IB  DETROIT  I'NDER  CADILLAC 

SUPPRESSION     BY    THE     JESUITS. 

The  older  men  of  both  the  French 
and  Indians  could  gather  round  the 
open  fire  in  the  great  cabins  of  the 
Indians  and  smolte  and  tell  stories, 
but  for  the  younger  people  a  more 
active  pleasure  must  be  devised.  It 
is  possible  that  the  soldiers  arranged 
theatricals,  but  if  they  did,  these  were 
for  the  benefit  of  the  French  only,  for 
it  can  scarcely  be  possible  that  an  In- 
dian  would    understand   a   play. 

In  1694  Cadillac  had  reported  the  at- 
tempt of  the  Jesuits  to  suppress  the 
playing  of  Nicomede  and  Mithridate 
by  the  soldiers  at  Quebec,  and  the 
Jesuits  were  partly  successful  in  their 
tirade.  If  the  :?oldiers  desired  to  en- 
tertain themselves  in  this  manner 
at  Quebec,  it  is  not  difficult  to  be- 
lieve that  they  made  the  same  at- 
tempt at  Detroit,  where  they  would 
not  be  reproached  by  the  .clergy.  There 
was  an  al)undance  of  brandy  always 
on  hand  in  the  pui)lic  storehouse,  for 
every  boat  brought  a  quantity  from 
below,  and  as  early  as  1706  a  l^rewery 
was  erected  and  Joseph  Parent  was 
employed  at  Montreal  to  come  here  as 
a  brewer. 

CADILLAC'S   POWERS. 

There  was  certainly  no  Acadian 
simplicity  among  the  people  who  lived 
In  Detroit  during  Cadillac's  time.  They 
were  continually  ciuarreling  with  each 
other  and  with  the  commandant,  and 
entering  protests  and  complalrfts 
against  those  in  authority.  Instances 
of  this  quarreling  are  very  evident 
from  the  great  number  of  Jesuit  let- 
ters written  on  the  subject,  and  some 
contentions  are  mentioned  in  Cadil- 
lac's  correspondence. 

A  clerk  named  Desnoyers,  sent  to 
represent  the  Company  of  the  Colony, 
was  considered  by  Cadillac  disobedi- 
ent and  contumacious.  Cadillac  im- 
prisoned him  for  two  hours.  Desnoy- 
ers considered  himself  of  great  im- 
portance in  the  settlement  and  resent- 
fd  the  imprisonment  as  an  insult.  He 
immediately  made  preparations  to  re- 
turn to  Montreal,  and  was  about  to 
set  out   on   his  journey   when   he  was 


again  arrested  and  imprisoned.  Com- 
plaint was  made  against  Cndillac  and 
he  defended  himself  to  Cc  unt  Pont- 
chai  train. 

On  being  asked  why  he  imprisoned 
the  clerk,  he  replied: 

"I  did  so  because  it  is  laid  down  in 
my  orders  that  nobody,  officer  or 
otherwise,  is  to  set  out  from  Detroit 
without  my  permission,  yet  the  clerk 
Desnoyers,  to  continue  his  disobedi- 
ence, had  nis  boat  put  in  the  water 
and  loaded  for  Montreal  (as  he  says) 
without  speaking  of  it  to  me  or  say- 
ing anything  to  me  about  it,  claiming 
always  that  he  was  not  subordinate 
to  me." 

The  company  threatened  to  bf  even 
with  him  for  thus  using,  or  misusing, 
their  clerk.  This  imprisonment,  Cadil- 
lac asserts,  is  his  great  "crime."  "The 
audacity  to  imprison  one  of  their  serv- 
ants, whom  they  appointed  as  their 
principal  clerk,  a  waif  and  a  poor 
wretch,  who  came  here  not  knowing 
which  way  to  turn  on  his  arrival  in 
this  country.  As  to  my  powers,  they 
are  very  ample,  being  to  punish  ac- 
cording to  circumstances,  by  censures, 
by  reprimands,  by  arrests,  by  impris- 
onment, or  by  deprivation  of  civil 
rights;  and  in  case  of  distinct  disobe- 
dience, to  run  my  sword  through  any 
one  who  has  so  offiiided  against  me. 
It  is  by  reason  of  the  remoteness  that 
these  orders  have  always  been  given 
to  me,  and  on  account  of  the  sedi- 
tions and  Intrigues  which  have  been 
attempted  to  be  formed  here,  which  I 
have  known  quite  well  how  to  re- 
press." 

There  is  one  more  subject  of  Inter- 
est on  which  I  desire  to  add  a  few 
answer  the  oft  repeated  question  of 
"Who  was  the  first  white  man  at 
Detroit?"  Not  who  were  the  first 
persons  passing  through  the  strait, 
but  who  first  landed  at  Detroit  with 
a  determination  to  make  that  place 
his  future  home?  This  question 
would  not  have  arisen  except  for 
statements  in  some  of  the  earlier 
Michigan  histories,  which  allege  that 
Pierre  Roy  and  Joseph  Parent  were 
located    at    Detroit      before      Cadillac 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADII-LAC. 


17 


came.  I  believe  th*  statament  has  no 
foundation  in  faot,  and  f  wil.  try  to 
prove  it  3  untrutfj. 

Cadillac  asserts,  in  one  of  hiH  earlj' 
letters,  that  no  one  had  ever  visited 
this  part  of  t*^e  country  before.  He 
certainly  would  not  bave  made  such 
a  statement  if  two  men  were  then 
livl.iK  there,  for  he  knew  these  men, 
as  they  were  both  member.^  of  his 
colony.  Pierre  Roy  married  an  In- 
dian woman.  I  take  it  for  granted 
that  he  married  her  within  a  short 
time  after  flrs  t  meet-ng  her  and  that 
•he  brought  her  to  the  villaso  as  soon 
as  they  weie  married.  Their  first 
child  was  baptized  on  April  27,  1704, 
about  three  years  after  the  village 
was  founded. 

Now  this  evidence  is  only  circum- 
stantial, of  course,  but  it  is  sufficient 
to  make  one  believe  that  imless  Roy 
came  with  Cadillac,  ho  did  not  come 
at  all  until  the  year  1702  or  1703.  De- 
troit was  a  sort  of  neutral  ground, 
not  occupied  by  any  Indians  perman- 
ently, for  it  was  above  the  lands  of 
the  Iroquois  and  below  the  lands  oc- 
cupietl  by  the  other  Indian  tribes  wi^h 
whom  the  Iroquois  were  then  at  war. 
JOSEPH   PARENT'S   RECORD. 

The  other  man  who  is  supposed  to 
have  been  here  prior  to  Cadillac's 
time,  was  .loseph  Parent.  Joseph 
Parent  was  the  son  of  Pierre  Parent, 
of  Quebec,  and  was  born  at  that 
place  Jan.  27,  1669.  Jan.  31,  1690,  he 
married  Magdeleine  Marette,  at  Beau- 
port.  He  removed  to  Quebec  where 
his  first  child,  .loseph,  was  born,  Aug. 
13,  1690.  His  second  child,  Marie  Mag- 
deleine, was  born  Dec.  15,  1G92;  the 
third  was  Jean  Baptiste,  born  1694, 
•95  or  '96;  the  fourth.  Marguerite,  born 
July  7,  1698;  the  fifth,  Pierre,  born 
about  1700;  sixth,  Marie  Anne,  born 
May  22,  1702;  seventh,  Gilbert,  bor 
Dec.  3,  1703;  eighth,  .loseph  Marie, 
born  April  25,  1705.  He  then  removed 
to  Detroit,  where  his  ninth  child  was 
born,    July   21,    1709. 

If  anything  further  was  neet^ed  to 
show  that  he  could  not  have  lived  in 
this  country  before  the  coming  of 
Cadillac,  we  have  a  contract  made  by 


him  CI  March  9.  1706,  in  which  lie 
ai^recs  'o  go  to  Detroit,  from  Mon- 
treal, to  work  at  his  trade  as  master 
toolmaker  and  brewer,  for  three  vears. 

I  have  thus  shown  conclusively,  I 
tliink,  that  neither  Roy  nor  Parent 
lived  at  or  near  the  present  location 
of  Detroit  in  the  year  1700,  or  before 
Cadillac  came,  but  that  Cadillac  is,  In 
fact,  our  first  man. 
DIRECTORY  OF  DETROIT,  1701  TO  171(». 

I  have  compiled  a  list  of  all  the 
people  who  were  in  or  about  Detroit 
during  the  first  nine  years  of  its  ex- 
istence from  the  founding  of  the  city, 
in  1701,  till  the  time  that  Cadillac 
ceased  to  be  commandant,  in  1710.  This 
list  is  arranged  as  nearly  alphabetic- 
ally as  the  peculiarity  of  names  will 
permit,  and,  I  believe,  upon  the  same 
rulfs  that  govern  the  compilation  of 
directories,  so  that  this  is,  in  fact,  a 
directory  of  the  city  for  the  nine  years 
mentioned. 

The  foundation  of  this  compilation  is 
entirely  unpublished  manuscripts,  from 
which  tlie  names  have  been  taken  as 
they  occur,  and  hence  the  spelling  is 
sometimes  improper:  but  where  a  name 
has  occurred  more  than  once  in  these 
manuscripts  I  have  chosen  that  spell- 
ing which  seems   most  proper. 

The  ma.lority  of  these  people  were 
unable  to  write  or  spell  the'r  names, 
and  the  commandant,  priest  or  notary 
in  whose  writings  the  names  occur 
spell  them  according  to  sound,  or  to 
his  ideas   of  orthography. 

This  would  be  a  further  reason  for 
imperfection  in  spelling.  "Where  a  ptr- 
soii  knew  how  to  write  his  or  her 
name,  it  was  in  a  mechanical  man- 
ner; the  signer  would  evidpnlly  some- 
times forget  what  letters  should  form 
the  name,  and  consequently  would 
omit  in  some  signatures  letters  that 
apiiear  in  other  places  written  by  the 
same  party. 

All  these  things  have  to  be  contend- 
ed   with    and    an    imperfect    name    is 
not    an    evidence    of    lack    of    earnest 
study  to  make  my  work  complete. 
SOURCES   OF   INB-ORMATION. 

Three  important  series  of  manu- 
scripts have  been  carefully  examined 


18 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


for  the  jjurpose  of  ascprtainlng  the 
names  plven  herewith,  and  the  In  ■ 
formation  contained  'n  conn  utlon 
with  the  names  is  taken  from  these 
three  sources. 

The  manu.scrlpts  consist  of,  first, 
the  letters  and  reports  of  Cadillac. 
These  letters  are  in  the  a"chives  In 
Paris.  They  are  very  volui. ilnous  and 
very  interestlnp  from  an  historical 
standpoint.  I  have  a  copy  of  every 
one  that  has  been  so  far  discovered. 
Second,  the  records  of  the  church  of 
Ste.  Anne,  In  this  city.  These  records 
are  peculiarly  valuable,  and  contain 
many  items  of  historical  Interest,  be- 
sides the  birth,  marriag-e  and  death 
notices.  The  catholic  church,  so  far  as 
my  observation  goes,  has  always  been 
very  careful  to  keep  a  record  of  its 
members,  their  births,  ancestry,  mar- 
riage and  deaths.  The  facts  relative 
to  each  individual  are  made  matters 
of  record  in  their  churches. 

Detroit  is  no  exception  to  this  rule, 
and  although  we  occasionally  find  mat- 
ters in  other  places  that  show  omis- 
sions and  errors  in  the  church  records, 
they  are  few  and  only  discovered  on 
diligent  study  of  each  Individual's  life. 

There  was  a  church  building  erected 
and  a  church  record  begun  as  early 
as  1701.  The  church  was  destroyed  by 
fire  in  1703,  and  the  records,  consisting 
probably  of  only  a  sheet  or  two  of 
paper,  were  burned  with  the  church.  A 
new  building  was  at  once  put  up  and  a 
new  record  commenced  in  1704. 

WONDERFIII.     TNDIVIDUAI.     REC- 
ORD. 

The  third  series  of  manuscripts  con- 
sists of  the  notarial  ret  ords  on  file  in 
the  department  of  justice,  in  the  city 
of  Montreal.  These  contain  lists  of 
parties  who  were  employed  to  go  to 
Detroit  with  the  traders,  as  bargemen 
or  laborers.  Many  ol  them  sought 
employment  in  this  manner,  simply 
to  pay  their  expenses  to  the  upper 
country,  with  the  intention  of  remain- 
ing here  if  the  surroundings  suited 
them,  and  consequently  some  of  the 
oldest  French  families  in  the  city  can 
find  the  names  of  their  ancestors  in 
these    contracts.     There    are    a    great 


many  of  these  contracts,  and  I  have 
made  copies  of  all  such  as  pertain  to 
Michigan,  making  several  large  vol- 
umes of  closelj  -written  manuscripts, 
between  the  years  16!K)  and  1760. 

These,  then,  form  the  basis  from 
which  I  have  worked  in  making  this 
directory.  When  this  portion  of  my 
labor  was  completed,  I  turned  for  con- 
firmation and  further  assistance  to 
Taiiguay's  Dictionnalre  GenealoglQue 
of  French  families.  Too  much  cannot  be 
said  In  commendation  of  this  work. 
The  author,  Fr.  Cyprlen  Tanguay, 
collected  the  registers  of  all  tlie 
French  catholic  churches  of  Can- 
ada and  Michigan,  and,  with 
incredible  patience,  compiled  the 
entire  matter  into  a  grand  work  of 
seven  volumes.  By  means  of  this  com- 
pilation one  can  trace  a  French  catho- 
lic from  the  time  of  his  leaving  France 
until  his  death;  can  there  find  the 
names  of  the  parents,  wife  and  chil- 
dren of  any  of  these  people.  In  con- 
sequence of  the  wide  scope  of  this 
work  it  is  possible  to  follow  the  domi- 
ciles and  determine  the  occupation  of 
any  person,  no  matter  where  ho  lived 
in  Canada,  or  how  often  he  changed 
residences. 

In  each  church  where  the  individ- 
ual's name  appears  in  the  register,  suf- 
ficient data  are  given  with  It  to  iden- 
tify him,  and  when  these  records  are 
all  brought  together,  as  Fr.  Tanguay 
has  collected  them,  we  have  the  his- 
tory of  every  Frenchman. 
DF/PRdlT'S    MISTY    EARLY    STORY. 

We  have  a  similar  work  of  Iccal  im- 
portance now  in  process  of  compila- 
tion nearly  completed  I  believe.  I  ro- 
fer  to  the  work  of  Rev.  Fr.  Denis.sen 
of  St.  Charles'  church  of  this  city. 
His  work  Is  founded  upon  the  same  gen- 
eral principles  as  that  of  Fr.  ranguay, 
but  Is  confined  to  Detroit  and  Wind- 
sor and  vicinity.  Fr.  Denis- 
sen.  hoTvever,  has  gone  out- 
side the  1  ,:ords  of  the  church  and 
has  taken  --leh  other  authencK>  records 
as  he  can  find,  and,  as  he  I  bought, 
adapted  to  his  purposes.  It.  is  well 
known  that  after  the  termination  of 
the  French  regime  in  1760  and  extend- 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC 


Ing  e^en  as  late  iia  1818,  v<  ry  many 
protestanta  wero  baptized  in  the  cath- 
olic church.  There  was  no  other  church 
hero  to  perform  this  ceremony.  Many 
of  these  became  converts  and  their 
names  are  frecjuently  found  in  th.i 
succeeding  pages  of  the  church  record. 

It  Is,  however,  to  the  first  10  yeai.^ 
of  our  city's  history  that  we  look  for 
the  ancestry  of  many  of  our  older  ft-m- 
ilies.  The  men  who  came  with  Cadil- 
lac and  tliose  who  came  to  him  after 
his  first  establishment  include  the 
names  of  Chene,  Campau,  Belislo, 
DeLisle,  Chapoton,  St.  Aubin  and 
many  others. 

CONFUSION  OF  EARLY  NAMES. 

I  confess  that  I  do  not  understand 
how  the  old  French  names  are  made 
up.  It  seems  to  me  that  prior  to  the 
time  that  Detroit  was  founded,  each 
of  a  family,  on  his  attaining  his  ma- 
jority, took  to  himself  such  a  name 
as  he  saw  fit— possibly  taking  the 
name  from  some  tract  of  land— some 
senlory  that  he  possessed  and  named. 
Thus  we  have,  in  many  instances,  a 
family  of  brothers  each  bea'-ing  differ- 
ent names.  The  use  of  the  given 
nam©  was  Mttle  known  and  was 
scarcely  ever  employed  except  in 
official  documents  where  the  individual 
was  referred  to  as  being  the  son  of 
some  person  whose  full  name  was 
given.  Even  as  late  as  1700  the  use 
of  the  surname  was  not  fully  under- 
stood and  it  is  no  infrequent  circum- 
stance to  find  the  name  of  a  descend- 
ant entirely  unlike  that  of  his  ances- 
tor. 

I  call  to  mind  now,  a  few  local 
names  affected  by  the  uncertainty  of 
names,  as  the  family  of  St.  Aubin. 
The  Detroit  ancestor  of  this  family 
was  named  Casse  and  the  name  St. 
Aubin  was  attached  as  a  nickname. 
His  children  bore  the  same  name  of 
Casse,  but  as  the  third  generation  was 
reached,  the  name  St.  Aubin  was  fre- 
quently used  alone  and  the  name  Casse 
omitted;  after  the  lapse  of  150  years 
the  name  St.  Aubin  is  all  that  remains 
and  the  Casse  is  forgotten.  Take  the 
family  of  Beaubiens.  Their  family 
name    was    Cullliere.       The    LafCertys 


19 

belong  to  the  family  of  /isslere. 
These  are  only  Illustrations.  There 
are  many  other  families  in  Detroit 
that  have  as  abruptly  and  unceremon- 
iously changed  their  surnames  and  it 
needs  the  constant  watch  upon  eacl 
name  to  be  able  to  trace  the  famlUer 
through  the  generations.  Another 
thing  about  these  early  French  peo- 
ple that  appears  odd  to  us  is  that 
the  A^omen,  upon  marriage,  did  not 
take  the  i.ame  of  their  husbands. 
Wherever  a  woman  is  referred  to  her 
maiden  name  is  given,  followed  by  the 
statement  that  ?  he  is  the  wife  of 
some  person  who  Is  named  and  also 
frequently  followed  by  the  names  of 
her  parents.  This  peculiarity  fre- 
quently assists  one  in  tracing  the 
identity  of  names  otherwise  obscure. 

DETROIT'S    FIRST    DIRECTORY. 

Abatis.  Jean  (or  Labbatu,  see  Labatier). 

Aguenet  (or  Aguet).  called  I.rfir'Ort,  Gull- 
leaunie.  (Possibly  the  name  :=houia  be 
HaguenotJ. 

Arnauld  Bertrand.  merchant,  came  to  De- 
troit  .luly   18,    1702. 

Badelllac.  Louis,  cUed  I>aplante,  mado 
an  agreement  to  come  to  Detroit  May  29, 
1701.   the  first  convoy. 

Bannois.  Jeanne.  She  was  the  first  wife 
of  GulUaume  Bouche,  and  died  in  1703.  This 
name  Is  given  by  Tanguay  as  Beauvals. 

Barlteau.  Julian,  called  I>a  Marche,  came 
May  30.  1705. 

Baron,  Denys,  voyageur.came  June  21,  1706. 

Barthe  (called  Belleville).  Jean,  a  soldier, 
came  Oct.   10.   1706. 

Barthe  (called  Belleville),  Marie  Char- 
lotte, daughter  of  Jean  Barthe,  above. 
Bom  Oct.   27,  1709. 

Bassinet,  Joseph,  sieur  Tourblanche.  Came 
April  2.  1707. 

Bassinet,  Pierre,  brother  of  above.  He 
came  April   2.   1707. 

Baudreau.  Gabriel.  Gabriel  Baudreau  and 
his  wife.  Catherine  Foretier.  were  voyageurs 
passing  through  Detroit  on  their  way  to 
Mobile.    Nov.    24.    1708. 

Baudreau,  Marie  Doulse,  daughter  of 
Gabriel  Baudreau,  baptised  Nov.  24,   1708. 

Baugret,  Francois,  called  Uufort,  'came 
Sept.   10.  1710. 

Beauchamp,  Jacques,  came  as  bargeman. 
May  30,  1705. 

Beauchamp,  Pierre,  brother  of  above. 
Came  same  time. 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


BeauKis  (or  Baugls),  Mlcliol,  voyageur. 

BeaurcKurd,   see  Dupuls. 

Belllle  (or  Bellsle),  Henry,  llrHt  surgeon 
of  the  fort. 

Besnard,  Rene,  came  June  21,  170(i.  Sol- 
dier of  Carlgnnn  regiment. 

Blenvenue,  Alexis,  son  of  Francois,  be- 
low. He  married  Josette  Bouron.  Jan.  17. 
1740. 

Blenvenue,  called  Delisle,  Francois,  came 
Aug.  2,  1707.  HlR  first  wife  was  Genevlevo 
Lrfiferlere,  and  his  second  wife  was  Mari- 
anne Lemolne.  He  was  burled  Sept.  29, 
1761.  aged  88  years.  The  transformatlDn  of 
French  names  I.**  well  Illustrated  by  this 
oerson.  His  descendants  are  nearly  uni- 
versally known  here  by  the  name  cf  Dt- 
llsle  or  DeLlsle,  and  the  surname  of  two 
centuries  ago  la  not  uncommomy  uted  to- 
day, as  a  chrls-tlan  name,  and  we  frequently 
find.  Blenvenue,  or  Welcome,  Dellsles  In 
our  real  estate  records. 

Blenvenue,  Joseph,  son  of  Francois  Blen- 
venue above,  baptized  March  5,  1704,  and 
burled  Dec.   3,   1711. 

Blenvenue.  Marie,  daughter  of  Francil.s 
Blenvenue  above.  Baptized  Dec.  8,  1705. 
She  married  Jacques  Roussel  April  7,  1725. 
She  Is  named  Marianne  In  the  marriage  rec- 
ord. 

Blenvenue,  Marie  Joseph,  daughter  of 
Francois  Blenvenue,  born  Aug.  25.  1709. 

Blenvenue,  Rafael.  Burled  April  24,  1706, 
aged  2  years.  Unless  this  Is  the  same  per- 
son as  Joseph  Blenvenue,  above.  It  Is 
scarcely  possible  that  Rafael  was  a  son  of 
Francois  Blenvenue.  This  Is  the  first  re- 
corded death  In  Detroit,  though  there  Is 
other  evidence  that  a  child  of  Alphonse  de 
Tonty  died  before  the  first  church  was 
burned,  in  1703,  and  that  Madam  Bou-he 
died  In  1703. 

Blzalllon  (or  BIsalllon).  Michel,  son  of 
Benolt  BIsalllon  and  of  Louise  Blaye,  of 
Clalrmont,  In  Auvergne.  He  married  Mar- 
guerite Fafard  (dlt  DeL«rme),  June  30.  1710. 

Bluteau.  Agathe  (In  some  places  this 
name  is  spelled  Bulteau),  wife  of  Francois 
Judith  Contant,  dlt  Rancontre. 

Bollard.  Jeanne,  wife  of  Pierre  Leger,  dlt 
Parlslen. 

Bombardier  (called  la  Bombards),  Andre. 
A  aoldier  and  farmer. 

Bombardier  (called  la  Bombarde),  Bernard 
PhlUipe,  son  of  Andre  Bombardier  above, 
bom  Oct.  12,  1709. 

Bombardier,  Jean.  Son  of  Andre  Bom- 
twxdler  above,  bom  July  18,  1707. 


Bone,  Morle  Anne.  The  name  probably 
.'*hould  be  spelled  Beaune.  She  wa»  the 
widow  of  Francois  Liorry  and  daug'hter  of 
Jean  Bone  and  Mary  Magdelalne  Bourigier. 
She  married  Martin  drier  June  12,  1710. 
She  came  to  Detroit  Apill  18,  1707,  under 
an  agreement  to  serve  Cadillac  for  three 
years   at  80   llvres   per  year. 

l«onne,     Francois. 

Uonnet,  Gulllaume  (8urname<l  Deliar<l) 
Amorer.  A  native  of  the  parish  of  Charles- 
burg,  near  Quebec.     He  died  Jan.  13,  1709. 

Bosne,  Francola.     Came  April  13,  1709. 

BoMeron,  Francois.  (Tanguay  spells  the 
name  Beauceron.)  Farmer.  He  was  the 
husband  of  Marie  Le  Page  (which  name 
see.) 

Botquin,  Pierre  (called  St.  Andre).  A 
soldier,  came  Oct.  19,  1706.  An  Inventoiry  of 
goods  that  he  carried  to  Detroit  in  1710 
Includes  50  pounds  of  powder  at  40  sols  per 
pound,  100  pounds  of  bullets  at  10  sols  per 
pound,  and  32  pots  (of  two  quarts  each) 
of  brandy  at  45  sols  per  pot. 

Boucher,  Gulllaume.  His  flr.st  wife  was 
named  Jeanne  Beauvaia,  and  after  her 
death,  In  1703,  he  married  Angelique 
Tholme,  widow  of  Pierre  Robert,  Aug.  16, 
1716. 

Boucher.  Pierre.  Esquire  sleur  de  Bou- 
chervlUe. 

Bourdon,  Pierre,  Voyageur,  came  June 
15,  1706.  Married,  in  1711,  Marie  Anne 
Gouvon. 

Bougery.  Denis,  came  as  bargeman,  May 
30.    1705. 

Bourgery,  Jean  Louis.  Brother  of  Denis, 
cam«  Sept.   14,   1710. 

Bourg,  Jean  (called  Laplerre).  Voyageur, 
came  June  15,  1706. 

Bourgoln  (called  St.  Paul),  DIdler.  Soldier 
of  Montlgny.  He  signs  Bourguln. 

Boutron   (called   Major)   Estlenne.     Farmer 

The  name  Estlenne  shows  one  of  the 
common  transformations  of  the  French 
worda.  This  is  now  commonly  written 
Etienne  (Stephen),  and  the  second  letter 
B  has  been  dropped,  as  It  has  in  Destroit, 
Chesne.    despot,    and   many   other   words. 

Boutron  (called  Major),  Marguerite. 
Daughter  of  Etienne  Boutron,  above,  born 
Sept.    15,   1709. 

Boutron,  (called  Major)  Marie  Angelique, 
daughter  of  Etienne  Boutron.  baptized 
July  5,  1707. 

Boyer,  Zaoharie.  Voyageur,  came  May 
20,   1708. 


1* 

I 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


n 


Boyer,  Jean.  Came  as  bargeman  May 
30,   170.-.. 

Brabant.  Michel.  Voyageur.  came  Aug. 
2,   i:07. 

Bieunel,  Anne  (probably  Intended  for 
Anne  Bruneau,  which  see).  Wife  of  LouU 
Normand. 

Briaset,    Bernard.     Came    May    18.    1708. 

Bruneau,  Anne.  Wife  of  Louis  Normnnd 
tilt   Labrlerre. 

Brunet,  Francois  dit  Bourbonnals.  Camn 
May  30.  1705. 

Buet,  Bene.  Came  as  bargeman  May  30. 
1705. 

Butard.    .    Wlf»    of   .    She    died 

Dec.  10,  1724,  aged  30  to  32  years. 

Cabazier,  Charles.  Voyageur,  came  June 
13,   1707. 

Cadleu,  Pierre.  Came  as  bargeman  May 
30,  170,5. 

Cadillac.     See  De  La  Mothe. 

Calllomeau,  Louis.  Came  Sept.  8,  1710. 
This  name  probably  should  be  Galannaux. 

Camerand.    See    Chouet. 

Campau,  Jacquea  (the  name  Is  also 
spelled  Campo,  Campos,  Campeau  and 
Campot).  Black.smlth,  came  Sept.  3,  1708. 
His  wife  was  CecUe  Catln.  He  was  burled 
May    14,     17.51,    aged    78    years. 

Campau,  Jean.  Came  as  bargeman  May 
30.   1705. 

Campau.  Jeanne.  Daughter  of  Michel 
Campau. 

Campau  Louis,  son  of  Jacques  Campau. 
He  married  MarU  Louise  Robert,  widow 
of  Francois  Pelletler,  and  daughter  of 
Pierre  Robert  and  Angellque  Tholme, 
Jan.    7.    1724. 

l^ampau.  Ma.-guerite.  daughter  of  Michel 
Campau.    baptized   March   2,   1708. 

Campau,  Marie  Angellque.  Daughter  of 
Jacques    Campau.    born    Dec.    6,    1708. 

Campau,  Michel.  Farmer,  came  Aug.  3, 
1707.  His  wife  was  Jeanne  Masse.  He 
died   l)efore  1740. 

Campau.  Paul  Alexander.  Son  of  Michel 
(?ampau.  boi'n  Sept.  14.  1709.  He  married 
Charlotte  Sloneau.  daughter  of  Mathurin 
Sloneau  and  Marie  Charlotte  Dubeau, 
Feb.     15.     1740. 

(.'ardlnal,  Jacques.  Voyageur,  came  Oct. 
13.    1707.    Died   May   17,    1724,    aged   84  yoars. 

Cardinal,  Jacques.  Son  of  the  preceding, 
came  Oct.  13.  1707.  His  wife  was  Jeitnne 
Dugue,  and  third  son  Pierre,  was  baptized 
Aug.  30,  1729.  They  already  had  a  daugh- 
tei'    Jeanne,    who    acted    as    gqd-mqth'.-r   <o 


the  infant  Pierre.  Jeanne  married  Liiurent 
Parent. 

Cardinal,  Marie.  Wife  of  Jacquea  Hu- 
bert dR  la  Croix,  with  her  husband  and 
one  child,  she  set  out  from  Montreal  for 
DetfoK,    May  22,   1709. 

Cardinal,    Pleri'e.    Cume    Sept.    6,    1708. 

Caron.     Vital.    Came    April    2,     1707. 

Carrlere,  Antolne,  (he  signs  the  church 
record  Ilantolne  Carrier,  In  1710.)  His  par- 
ents. Andre  Carrlere  and  Cecile  Jannot, 
lived  on  St.  Paul  street,  Montreal.  He 
flrtst  came  to  Detroit.  April  11.  1707.  as  a 
voyageur. 

Casse.  (called  St.  Aubin).  Jean.  This 
Is  a  good  Illustration  of  the  change  <# 
French  names.  The  family  name  of  Casse 
has  been  so  completely  lost  through  years 
of  use  of  the  nick  name,  "that  this  man's 
descendants  are  universally  known  as  St. 
Aubin.  and  there  are  many  of  them 
In  Detroit  today.  I  have  grouped  them  all 
under  this  name.  Jean  Casse's  wife  was 
Marie  Louise  Gautler.  He  died  Feb.  27, 
1759.    aged  more   than  100  years. 

Casse  (called  St.  Aubin),  Jean  Baptlste. 
Died  of  smallpox  Feb.  25,  1733,  aged  27  or 
28  years.  A  great  many  people  died  in  the 
winter  of  1733-4,  of  smallpox.  Jean  Baptlste 
St.  Aubin  married  Magdeleine  Pruneau, 
daughter  of  Jean  Pruneau  and  Suzanne 
Bellanger,  of  Quebec,  July  31.  1731. 

t^asse  (called  St.  Aubin),  Jacques,  son  of 
Jean  Casse  and  Marie  Louise  Qautier.  He 
married  Catherine  Vien,  daughter  of  Ignace 
Vien  and  Angeliiiue  Du  Sable,  Dec,  27,  1745. 

Casse  (called  St.  Aubin),  Marie  Anne, 
daughter  of  Jean  (or  Jean  Baptlste)  Casse 
and  Marie  Louise  Gautler.  Born  Oct.  6, 
1710.  She  married  CHiarles  Chauvin  (.black- 
smith), Oct,  27,  1720.  There  was  another 
daughter.  Agathe  Casse,  who  married  Nico- 
las Campau.  dit   Niagara. 

Casse  (called  St.  Aubin),  Pierre,  son  of 
Jean  Casre.   Baptized   May   2,   1709. 

Catin,  Cecile,  wife  of  Jacques  Campau. 
She  died  before  1732.  Her  daughter,  Mari- 
anne Campau,  married  Joseph  Bondy  July 
28.  1732.  and  her  son,  Claude,  married  Cath- 
erine Casse  (dit  St.  Aubin),  daughter  of 
Jean  Casse,   Jan.   22,  1742. 

Catinet.  Jcfseph,  of  Pointe  aux  Tremble, 
near  Mr^ntreal.  was  In  Detroit  July  26,  1707. 

Ch;il)ot.    Joseph, 

Channet  (called  Camlrand),  Andre,  ser- 
geant of  the  troops  in  this  country.  H's 
wife  was  Anne  Pastorel. 


sa 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


Channel  (culled  Camlmnd),  Andre,  aon  of 
above.    Born  May  13.  170S. 

Channft  (ciilcd  Camlrnml),  I'lerre,  son  of 
Andre  senior.    Horn   about   April,    1710. 

ilianteloup,  I'lorre,  farmer.  Acted  as  K<'<1- 
fatlier  to  Jenn  Uombardler,  July  18,  1707. 
HIb  wife  cunie  to  Detroit  April  11,  1707. 

Chnrlionncnu.  Joseph.    Came  April  25,   '707. 

Charbonneau,  Michel.  Came  April  17,  i:07. 
Brother  of  above. 

Chamlc.    See  du  Charnlc. 

Chnrlet.  Francois.  His  wife  was  Marthe 
Foratler. 

Charlet.  I'lorre,  son  of  above.  Born  May 
3.    1709. 

Charon,    Charles. 

Chnrnentlcr,  Jean.     Came  April  2,  1707. 

(^hauvlllon.  Charlotte,  wife  of  Jean 
Harthe.    dit   ncllevllle. 

LTiauvln.  Gilles,  voyageur.  Came  June  7, 
1706.  He  and  Louis  Normand  were  in  part- 
nership. 

Chauvin,  Jean  Baptlste,  voyageur.  Came 
June  14.    1706. 

Chauvin.  I^uls,  voyageur.  Came  June  14, 
170C.    Brother  of  above. 

Cheai'onvouzon,  Louis  Antolne,  surnameil 
Quarante  Sols,  chief  of  the  Huron  nation. 
He  was  a  very  prominent  and  Influential 
Imllan  and  frequent  reference  is  made  to 
him.  both  by  Cadillac  and  by  the  Jesuit 
fathers  at  Mackinac.  He  was  baptized 
April  27.  1707,  having  as  a  godfather  Cadil- 
lac himself.  He  died  the  same  day,  aged  48 
years.  ' 

Chesne.  Cliarles,  son  of  Pierre  Chesne  and 
I.^uise  Batty.  He  married  Catherine  Sau- 
vace.  daughter  of  Jacques  Sauvage  and 
Marie  Catherine  Rleul,   Jan.  18,   1722. 

Chesne.  Francois,  voyageur.  Came  Sept. 
Zi.   1707. 

Chesne.  Marie,  daughter  of  Pierre  Chesne 
and        Jeanne         BallU.  She        married 

(first)  Jacques  Montboef,  dlt  Qod- 
froy.  an.l  after  his  death  she 
niarrl-Jd  Jacques  Boutin.  Sept.  16,  1733. 
There  Is  a  record  that  Marie  Chesne  died 
Feb.  13.  17,''.8.  From  Mario  C?hesne  have  de- 
scended all  the  Godfroys  of  French  extrac- 
tion  In   and   aljout  Detroit. 

Chesne.  Pier,"e.  Came  June  13,  1707.  His 
wife  was  Jeanne  Ballll.  she  died  In  1700, 
she  is  sometimes  referred  *o  as  Louise 
Batty.  The  name  has  been  slightly  change<l 
In  spelling,  though  not  In  sound,  by  his 
descendants.  He  wa«  the  Detroit  ancestor 
of    the    present   CThene    family. 


Chesne,  Pierre.  Son  of  al)ove  Pierre 
CThesne.    He  had   two  wives;   first  on  May 

25.  1728,  ho  marrlod  Mario  Magilollne  Uoy, 
a  daughter  of  I'lorre  Uoy;  this  nuirrlage 
<ook  place  at  Fort.  St.  I>hlllll)e,vlllag«'  of  the 
Mlanils.  She  died  of  anmllpox  Oct.  20,  1732, 
and  In  1738  he  married  his  second  wife, 
Loulsp  Buil'ols,  daiiglitor  of  Francois 
Lothei  a  dlt  Barrols,  and  MiU'lanmi 
Sauvage.  Pierre  Che.sne  was  an  Interpreter 
and  sometimes  called  Lii  Butte.  He  was 
born  al)ou*   16U7. 

Chevalier,  Jean.  Came  May  30,  1705. 
There  Is  a  record  that  Angellque  Chevalier, 
daughter  of  the  late  Jeun  Baptlste  CMiev- 
aller  and  the  late  Prancolse  Alavoine  of 
this  parish  marrlod  Antolne  Nicolas 
Lauzon.   Feb.   27.  1769. 

Chevalier.    Michel.     Came    Oct.    10,    1710. 

Chevalier.  I'aul.  Came  July  12,  1702.  His 
wife  was  AK'ithe  Campau.  Tliiy  lived  on 
St.  Paul  street,  Montreal.  Paul,  Jean  and 
Robeitt  were  brothers. 

Chevalier.  Pierre. 

Chevallt^r,   Robert.    Came  June  l,'),   1706. 

Chomlc.    Jean   Baptlste. 

Chouet,    (called    Camorand)    Andre. 

Chouet.  Louis,  called  Lagirotlee.  Soldier 
In  company  of  Cabana,  captain.  He  was 
son  of  Jean  Chouet  and  Marie  Magdelelne 
Magdile.  Before  setting  out  for  Detroit, 
May  25,  1701.  he  gave  his  prope.ty.  In  event 
of   his  death,   to   Mary   Magdelelne   Dellsle. 

(Mrler.  Martin.  Son  of  Nicolas  Clrier  and 
Calherln*  Prevoost  of  the  parish  of  St. 
DenU  d'  AJ-genteull  at  Paris.  He  was  a 
soldier  of  the  company  de  la  Champagne 
and  married  Ann  Bone,  June  12,  1710.  I 
find  the  name  spelled  Sliler  sometimes, 
but  Martin  could  write  and  he  spelled  it 
Clrier. 

Clalrambaut,  Francois,  esquire  sieur 
I  >' A.igremont.  Commissary  of  the  marine 
.11  Cai;ada,  sub-delegate  of  the  Intendant 
and  deiiuty  appointe<l  to  visit  the  most 
advanced  pOiXs.  He  visited  Detroit,  Fo.'t 
Pontchartrain,     July    29,     1708 

Cobtron,    see   Marsac. 

Colin  Michel,  called  Laliberte.  Came  In 
1706. 

Collet.  Pierre,  voyageur.  Came  June  15, 
1706. 

Compein  (called  L'Esiperance)  Bonaven- 
ture.  Soldier  and  farmer.  His  wife  was 
Catherine   Laplante. 

Compein  (called  D'Esperance),  Marie 
Catherine,  daughter  of  Bonaventure,  above. 
She  waa  baptized  Nov.   14,   1707. 


1 


DETB'^IT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


in 


Complen  (called  L>' Esperance)  P|erre, 
Son  of  Bonaventure,  above.  Was  bom 
Jan.    12,    1710. 

Comic,    Pierre. 

("otton.  I'lerre.  called  St.  Jean.  Came 
May    30.    1705.    as   bargeman. 

f'o"-.ie;,  Francois.  Came  as  bargeman 
May  30,   1706. 

Cnuk,  Marguerite,  wife  of  Francois 
MasHf.  Marguerite  Couquo  Is  refer.-eil  to 
as  tho  wife  of  thi'  late  Jean  Fafare,  and 
Marguerite  Kouque  as  the  wife  of  gleur 
Masse.     The.<fe   may   be  the   same  party. 

Coup,  I  aLolle.  (^ame  to  Detroit  as  early 
as  April   27.   1704. 

Cdutant  (called  Rancontre)  Francois 
Judlle.  a  soldier.  His  wife  was  Maile 
Agathe   Blu<eau,    above. 

Coutant.  Jean.  A  soldier  of  the  company 
of  Ivorlmler.  He  was  burled  Sept.  17,  1732, 
aged  65  years. 

Coutant  (called  Rancontre),  Louis.  Son 
of  Francois,   above,   baptized   Feb.    13,    1708. 

Couturier,  Joseph,  voyageur.  Came 
Kept.    «.   1710. 

Cusson.  Ange.  Came  as  bargeman  May 
30.    1705. 

Cusson. 
20,   1709. 

Cusson. 
1707. 

Cusson.    Joseph.    Came    Oct.    7,     1706. 

Cusson.  Nicolas,  voyageur.  Came  Oct. 
7.    170t,. 

Dandonneau,  Marie  Francolse,  Wife  of  the 
second  marriage  of  Henry  Bellsle,  surgeon. 
Died.    May    8,    1711,    aged    about   50   years. 

Dardennes.  Toussainte.  Came  May  12. 
1707. 

D'Argenteull    (probably   Pierre),    gardener. 

David.  Therese.  Wife  of  Jacob  de  Marsac 
de  Cobtrlon  dlt  Desrochers.  She  was  burled 
Sept.    24,    1727,    aged    66   years. 

Daze.    Charles.     Came    July   16,    1702. 

De  Bi'oyeux,  Fr;incols.  Ca.ne  as  barge- 
man   May   30.    1705. 

De  Couague,  Charles  Jr.  Came  as  barge- 
man   May    30,    1705. 

De  Gaigne,  Jacques  Jr.,  18  years  old. 
Agreed  to  work  for  Jerome  Merllat,  dlt 
Sansquartler  for  two   yea/s 

De  La  Forest,  Francois  Captain  of  the 
troops  of  the  marine  In  this  country.  Like 
many  other  French  words  the  letter  s  Is 
frequently  dropped  In  writing  this  name, 
80   that   we   find    It   De   La   Foret. 

De     La      March.      Dominique,      Recollect 


Charles,     voyageur.    Came    Apill 
Jeen    Baptlate.    Came    April    11, 


prtest,    lecturer   In   theology,    pastor  of   S*te, 
Anne's. 

De  La  Marque,  Marianne  Wife  of  Al- 
phonse  de  Tonty.  She  was  the  widow  of 
Jean  Baptlste  Nolan,  and  had  a  daughter, 
Louise  Suzanne  Nolan,  who  married 
Charles  P/anwIs  de  Mezleres,  eaqulre, 
sleur  de   Ijeperuelnche.    Dec.    17,    1725. 

De  I.A  Mothe  Cadillac,  Antolne.  The 
founder  of  D*!trolt.  He  was  hoi'n  In  1661. 
the  son  of  Jean  de  la  Mothe  and  Jeanne 
de  Malenfant.  Married  Marie  There«e 
Quyon.  daughter  of  Den's  Ouyon  at  Que- 
bec.  June  27.   1687. 

In  simply  mentlonlnff  Antolne  De  I^a 
Mothe  Cadillac  as  a  oUlzen  of  Detroit. 
jf>5tlce  l8  not  done  to  the  name  of  a 
man  who  played  a  most  Important 
part   In  the  history  of  America. 

The  birthplace  and  tho  exact  dale 
of  the  birth  of  Cadillac  are  unknown. 
He  was  probably  born  In  1661,  in  that 
part  of  France  called  Gaacony.  He 
had  a  good  education  and  it  is  not  at 
all  improbable  that  he  studied  for 
the  priesthood.  Perhaps  he  studied 
with  the  Jesuits  and  then  left  their 
order,  for  he  certainly  displayed  a 
thorough  hatred  of  them  through  his 
life.  He  entered  the  army  at  an  early 
age  and  came  to  -\m  rica  to  seek  his 
fortune  in  1683.  He  first  settled  at 
Port  Royal  (Annapolis,  seaport  of 
Nova  Scotia)  and  built  a  house, 
which  was  destroyed  by  the  Eng- 
lish under  Sir  William  Phips  in 
1690.  .\t  Port  Hoyai  he  fell  in  with 
Francois  Guycn.  who  was  a  privateer. 
In  liis  employment  wi,  Guyon  he  be- 
came familiar  with  the  coast  line  of 
America  and  svith  tl;e  details  of 
American   cities. 

HE  TRAVELED   FAR. 

One  of  the  earliest  maps  of  b-js- 
ton,  made  by  the  noted  mai)  maker, 
Franquelin.  bears  upon  its  face  the 
approval  of  Cadillac  as  to  its  correct- 
ness, and  a  report  of  Cadillac  in  1691, 
warns  French  navirjators  of  the  dan- 
gers  of    Hell   Gate   at   New    York. 

His  services  as  a  pilot  wore  sought 
after  and  his  opinions  regarding  the 
English  Atlantic  =ettlements  i.nd  the 
best  mode  of  attacking  them  were  so 
highly   praised    that    the    klp^    (Louis 


84 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


XIV.)  sent  for  him  from  America 
on  more  than  one  occasion. 

In  16i>7  he  married  Marie  Therese 
Ouyon,  the  niece  of  his  employer,  at 
Quebec. 

Ill  1688  he  received  a  grant  of  a 
large  tract  of  land  In  Maine,  which 
was  then  French  territory,  and  also 
the  island  of  Mount  Desert,  which  his 
descendants  again  obtained  in  later 
years.  His  wife  and  family  were  liv- 
ing at  Port  Royal  at  the  time  of  its 
capture  by  the  English  in  1G90  and 
the  destruction  of  his  house  left  him 
penniless. 

He  had  been  a  lieutenant  in  the 
I  re  ops,  and  in  169.%  was  created  a 
capiain  with  the  rank  of  ensign  in 
the  navy.  Frontenac  had  been  reap- 
pointed to  his  (dd  po.sltlon  as  governor 
of  New  France  and  a  close  friend- 
ship sprang  up  between  himself  and 
Cadillac  that  lasted  during  their  joint 
lives. 

In  1094  he  was  appointed  command- 
ant ot  Mackinac.  Here  he  remained 
four  years,  spending  the  time  In  look- 
ing after  the  Indians  and  quarreling 
with  the  Jesuits.  He  seems  to  have 
taken  great  delight  in  bothering  the 
Jesuit  priests  and  exciting  them  with 
his  sharp  letters.  His  writings  are 
voluminou>,    and   not   always  truthful. 

RUM   VS.    Rji:LIGION. 

Great  attention  was  paid  to  his  re- 
ports by  the  colonial  office,  but  an  oc- 
casional roniark  by  the  minister  of 
for,iign  affairs  that  "He  lies  like  a 
Gascon,"  written  en  the  margin  of 
a  report  of  his,  gives  one  clearly  to 
understand  that  his  sentiment.s  were 
taken  with  a  ,'rain  of  allowance. 

One  of  th.-  most  important  ques- 
tions of  discussion  with  the  Jesuits 
was  the  .sale  of  eaii  de  vie  (rum)  to 
the  Indians.  The  priests  alleged  that 
it  was  unnecessary  traffic  and  inju- 
rious to  the  morals  of  the  savages, 
while  Cadillac  maintained  that  the 
use  of  the  stimulant  in  restricted  quan- 
tities was  riectssary,  and  moreover, 
that  if  the  savages  did  rot  get  what 
they  wanted  at  Mackinac  they  would 
go    to    the   English    to   obtain    it,    and 


if  they  went  to  the  English  they  might 
be  converted  to  protestantism,  and 
thereby  their  souls  would  be  lost,  and 
he  askcl  thu  missionaries  which  was 
the  most  profitable  thing  to  do.  Look- 
ing to  the  welfare  of  the  Indian  alone, 
v.'as  ft  beitei  to  be  occasionally  drunk 
on  F'.ench  brandy  and  his  soul  saved 
or  occasionally  drunk  on  English  rum 
and  he  eternally  lost? 

THE  FOUNDER  OF  DETROIT. 

He  was  not  exclusively  occupied 
with  his  attention  to  'his  missionary 
friends,  but  found  time  to  explore 
the  country  and  a.^certain  a  better 
place  ihan  Mackinac  for  building  a 
fort  which  would  resist  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  English.  He  resigned  his 
position  as  commandant  in  1698  and 
went  to  Europe  to  place  before  the 
king  a  proposition  for  founding  a 
colony  on  tlie  i:)etroit  river.  His  i  Ian 
was  approved  and  he  returned  in  1700 
with  autfiority  to  proceed  on  hi?,  er- 
rand as  soon  as  possible  I  have,  be- 
fore this,  given  a  shoit  account  of 
his  journey  to  Detroit  and  the  found- 
ing of  Fort  Pontchartrain,  which 
was  the  original  and  olticial  name  of 
this  post,  on  the  24th  of  July,  1701.  The 
unpublished  accounts  of  what  Cadil- 
lac found  here  are  interesting  in  the 
extreme. 

It  was  the  paradise  of  North 
America.  Here  he  founded  a  col- 
ony protected  by  a  garrison 
of  farmer  soldiers,  and  his 
colony  was  a  success  as  long  as  lie 
remained,  but  he  was  removed  from 
his  comn.and  In  1710  and  appointed 
governor  of  Louisiana.  He  reached 
his  new  post  In  1713  and  remained  un- 
til 1717,  when  he  returned  to  France. 
He  was  subsequently  appointed  gov- 
ernor o'l  Castel  Sarrazin,  in  France, 
and  retained  that  ofhce  until  his 
death. 

De  La  Mothe  Cadillac,  Aiitoliit?.  Ensign 
in   the   troops,   son   of  Cadillac. 

De  La  Mothe  Cadillac,  Antolne  (or  Jean 
Antolne),  son  of  Cadillac.  Bu.ied  in  the 
church.  April  9.  1709,  uged  2  years  2V4 
months.  1  think  this  is  th«  same  as  Jeai; 
Antolne,    who    was    baptized    Jan.    19,    1707. 


A 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC, 


3S 


De  L.a  Motlie  Cadillac,  Fi'ancois.  Son  of 
Cadillac     Born    March    29,    1709. 

De  La  Mothe  Cadillac,  Jacques.  Son  of 
Cadillac.  Cadot  in  the  troops  of  the  de- 
tachment  of   marines. 

De  La  Mothe  Cadillac,  Marie  Af?atha. 
Daughter   of   Cadillac.    Born,    Dec.    28.    1707. 

De  La  Mothe  Cadillac,  Hene  Louis.  Son 
of  Cadillac,   Born,    March   17,    1710.* 

De  Launay,   Joseph.    Came   Sept.    27,   1710. 

De  L'Halle,  Constantln.  Recollect  priest, 
killed  in  1723,  ht.9  body  was  exhumed, 
transported  and  reburied  within  the  church 
of   St.    Anne. 

De    Liard,    see    Bouet. 

De   Lisle,    see  Blenvenue. 

De  Lorme,   see  Pafard. 

Delpeche,  Francois,  Came  May  17, 
1710, 

Demera,   MaximlUen,    Came   May  30,    1705. 

Deniau  Cheruliin.  Recollect  priest,  pas- 
tor of  St.   Anne's. 

Deniau,  Rene.  Died  July.  17.10.  apred  80 
years. 

De    Paris,    Denis. 

Depre   (or   Dcspre).    Joseph. 

De   Ranee,    see    Le    Gautler. 

Derruon.  Pierre.  esquire  sieur  de 
Budemond. 

Dervlgseau,  JuHen,  Lieuteffiariit  in  the 
troops. 

DesTutels.  Gilbert,  dit  Lapolnte.  Came 
ag  bai66:r>an  May  30,  1705. 

Deg  Jardins,  Suzanne.  Wife  of  Pierre  La 
Fleur. 

Deslorlers,  Jean  Baptiste.  Jean  Baptiste 
du  Fournel  dit  Deslorlers,  aged  50  y^ars, 
was  buried   Oct.   31,   1731. 

Desmoullns,  Charlotte,  dit  Phllls,  daugh- 
ter of  Jacques  Desmoullns  and  Charlotte 
Sanarlas,  was  born  Nov.  22,  1709,  and  died 
Jan.    8,    1710. 

Desmoullns,  Jrequeg  dit  Phllls.  Hla  wife 
was  Charlotte        aarias. 

Desmoullns,  Jacques.  Son  of  the  above 
Jacques  Desmoullns;  was  baptized  March 
30,   1708   and   died   April  14,   1728. 

Deamoullns,  Marie.  Wife  of  Blaise  Son- 
tleureuse. 

Desnoyers,  Joseuh.  Married  Mag'dulelne 
Robert,  daughter  of  Pierre  Robert  and 
Angellque   Tholm,-. 

Desrocher,    or   Derocher,    see   Maraao. 

Desroslers,  Jean  Morean.  Came  as 
bargeman   May  30,    1705, 

Desroziers,  Joseph,  called  Dutremble. 
Came  Sept.   27.  1710, 

Devlnon,      Pierre,        esquire       sleur      de 


Budemond.     Lieutenant    In    the   troops. 

Dlzier,  Michel,  called  Sans  Quartler. 
Farmer. 

Dounay,  Antholne.  Came  in  the  summer 
of  1704. 

Dubor,  Dominique,  Came  as  voyageur, 
June  12,   1706, 

Du   Chomlc,   Louis. 

IXicharme,    Joseph.    Came    Sept.    10,    1710. 

Duoharme,  Louis.  Voyageur,  brother  of 
Joseph.    Came  May  22,    1709. 

Duclos,    Jacques.    A    soldier. 

Dumouchel,  Francoise.  Daughter  of 
Bernard  Dumouchel  dit  Liaroche.  On  the 
sixth  day  of  July  1703  she  agreed  to  go  to 
Detroit  to  serve  Mr.  and  Madam  De  L«a 
Mothe  (Cadillac),  for  two  yeara  at  ISO 
iivres   per   year. 

DuTnouchel,     Paul.    Came     May     15,     1708. 

Duftant,    Marie   Renie. 

Du  Figuier,   (see  Fournier). 

Dufresne,   Antoln.?. 

Dufresne,  Marie  Magdelaine,  Wife  of 
Pierre    Mallet. 

Dumay,  Jacques.  Jacques  Pierre  Danau 
esquire  sieur  de  Muy.  Chevalier  of  the 
Royal  and  Military  order  of  St.  Louis,  died 
May    20.    1758. 

Dumay,  Marguerite.  Wife  of  Andre  Bom- 
bardier. 

Dumouche,     Francoise. 

Dupuis  Antolne.  (called  Beauregard). 
Farmer.  His  wife  was  Marie  Anna  Mar- 
andeau. 

Dupuis,  Antolne.  Son  of  above,  was 
born   June   21,    1707. 

Dupuis,  Joseph,  Son  of  Antoine.  Sr.. 
above,    was  born   Jan  31,   1709. 

Dupuis,  Marie  Anne.  Daughter  of  An- 
toine  above,    was   born   March   13,    1710. 

Duroy,  I'ierre,  dit  Deslauriors,  Poldier  in 
the  company  of  De  La  Mothe  Cadillac. 
He  came  April  11,  1707.  Hs  is  also  men- 
tioned as  a  soldier  in  the  company  cf 
Dulhud.    (Duluth). 

Du    Vesitin,    Salomon    Joseph. 

Durand  (or  Durant)   Jean.   Farmer. 

Dussault,  Marie.  Wife  of  Jacaues 
Langlols. 

Du  Sault,  Marie,  fille  mmeure.  The  par- 
ents'  names  are  not        en. 

Dutan,  Jacques.  Came  as  bargcmHii 
May   30.    1705. 

Dutremble,    Jean   Baptiste.    Came   in  170S. 

Dutremble,    Joseph.    Came    Sept.    28,    1706. 

Du  Vant,  called  La  Franchise,  Pierre. 
Soldier  de  la   (3ompagrnle  de  la   Corne. 


"W 


26 


-  i 


Esteve,      Pierre.      Called 
Farmer,    see    Stebre. 

Estienne,  Estlenne.  B.  her  of  Domi- 
nique   Estienne.      Came    April    26,    1707. 

Estienne,  Jacques.  Came  April  13,  1707 
wUh  a  canoe  load  of  merchandise  for  Slear 
de   Bourmont,    ensign   in   tlie  troops. 

Fafard,    Charles,    dit    Delonne.    He    oame 
April    25,     1707.    His    father    waa    Francola 
Fafard,      dit     Delorme.    The     descendants 
from    this    pioneer    are    universally    called 
Delorme. 

Fafard,  Etienne  dit  Delorm*.  Son  of 
Francois   Fafard,    born   Sept.    24,    1708. 

Fafard,  Francois,  dit  Delorme.  Farmer 
and  interpreter  for  the  king-.  He  died 
Jan.  28,  1734,  aged  about  80  years.  His 
first  wife  was  Magrdeleine  Marguerite 
Jobln  and  his  second  wife  was  Barbe 
Lioisel. 

Fafard,  Joseph.  Son  of  Francois,  above. 
He  was  bom  Sept.  24,  1708.  He  and 
Etienne    were    twins. 

Fafard,  Magdelelne.  Daughter  of  Fran- 
cols  Fafard.  above.  She  married  Prudent 
Robert,   Jan.   7,   1711. 

FaJard,  Marie  Joseph,  dit  Delorme, 
daughter  of  Francois  above,  married  Pierre 
Auclair.    of    Charlesburg. 

Fafard.  Marie  Marguerite,  daughter  of 
Francois  above.  Married  Michel  BlssUon, 
June  30.  3710. 

Fafard,  Marguerite,  daughter  of  Jean  Fa- 
fard and  Marguerite  Couck.  Married  Jean 
Baptiste  Turpln,   May  5,   1710. 

Fanereau.  Charles,  voyageur.  Lived  in 
Detroit  Oct.  6,  1708. 

Farland,    Jean. 

Faverau.    Pierre.    Called   Zia,  Grandeur. 

Fayolet.  Pierre,  called  St.  Pierre.  A  sol- 
dier of  the  company  of  St.  Ours.  He  was 
In  Detroit  May  2,  1709,  and  acted  as  god- 
father to  Pierre  Casse. 

Ferron.    Antoine,    farmer. 

Filiatreau,  Jacques,  voyageur.  Came 
May  30,  1705.  He  lived  at  Jjichlne  and 
never  resided  in  Detroit,  though  he  came 
here   several   times. 

Filie.  Michel,  esquire,  sieur  de  Therlgo, 
sergeant  of  troops.  Commissioned  to  bear 
letters  from  France  to  Cadillac.  He  came 
Oct.   lu,    1706. 

Fortler,  Catheri  k  wife  of  Gabriel  Bau- 
dreau.  They  wc  e  married  at  Montreal 
Aug.   15,   1701. 

Fortler,  Marthe  (or  Marie  Marthe),  wife 
of   Francois    Clialut   dit    Chanteloup.    They 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC 
L>a     Jeun*i#e. 


were  married  In  Montreal  June  10,  1706.  She 
was   a  sister   of   Catherine  above. 

Fournler,  Louis  Rene,  sleur  du  Flgnier, 
ensign  In  the  troops  of  this  country,  per- 
forming the  functions  of  major  of  the 
troops  in  Fort  Pontchartraln.  He  was 
bom  at  Montreal  May  14,  1673.  His  moth- 
er's name  was  Helene  Du  Figuier. 

Frapler.  Marie  Magdelelne,  wife  of  Pierre 
Stebre,  dit  la  Jeunesse.  They  were  married 
at  Quebec  April  12.  1706.  and  she  died  at 
Detroit.   Dec.   22,  1759,   aged  80  years. 

Frigon.  Francois.  He  was  born  in  Nor- 
mandy and  came  to  Detroit  May  30,  1705. 

Frotant.  Angellque.  Probably  Protean, 
which    see. 

Gagnler,   Jacques.    Came  May  17,   1710. 

Galarneau,  Louise,  wife  of  Francois 
Marquet.  She  was  born  Feb.  2,  1690,  and 
married  April  26.   1706. 

Galllen,  Marie  Anne.  Her  first  husba  '■! 
was      Jerome    (Hieronymus)     Marl'  6!t 

Sansquartler,   and  her  second  bust  /as 

Bernard  Phillipe. 

Gareau  (or  Garro  or  Garraud),  Domi- 
nique. Came  Oct.  3,  1708.  He  was  born 
at  Boucherville  Jan.   13,   1684. 

Gare.'^u,  Jean,  "ame  Sept.  25,  1707.  He 
was  bon?  at  Boucherville  Nov.   3,  1679. 

Gareau,  Pierre.  Came  as  bargeman  May 
30.  1705.  He  was  born  at  Boucherville  May 
1.  1673.  He  lived  In  St.  Paul  street,  Mon- 
treal. He  was  siometlmes  called  St.  Onge, 
Saintonge,  or  Xaintonge.  The  three  Gareaus 
were  brothers.  Dominique  and  Jean  never 
resided  In  Detroit,  but  came  here  together 
in  1708  and  at  various  other  times.  Pierre 
owned  a  house  and.  lot  In  the  village,  con- 
veyed to  him  by  the  name  of  Xaintonge. 

Gatineau.  Louis,  sieur  Duplessis,  came  to 
Detroit  June  21,  1706.  He  was  married  Jan. 
22.  1710,  to  Jeanne  Lemoyne,  at  Batiscan. 
He  Is  described  as  a  merchant  of  Quebec. 

Gaultier.  Marie  Louise,  wife  of  Jean  Casse, 
called  St,    Aubin. 

Gaultier  (or  Gautier),  Pierre,  dit  Sagul- 
noira.  Came  May  22.  1709.  He  was  born 
March  25,  1669,  and  died  July  25,  1754. 

Gazallle,  Jean,  dit  St.  Germain.  Came 
Sept.  10.  1710. 

Germain,  Alexis,  son  of  Robert  Germain, 
a  native  of  the  parish  of  Pointe  aux  Trem- 
ble, near  Quebec,  and  came  to  Detroit  May 
19.  1708.  He  was  killed  May  19,  1712,  by  a 
gunshot  given  by  the  Ytaganish  Indians, 
with  whom  he  was  fighting  at  Detroit. 

Germain.  Robert.    Came  May  18,  1708.    He 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


87 


was   a  brother  of   Alexis.    Bom    at   Quebec 
Sept.   S,   1680. 

Gervaia.  Etienne  de  Bourguion.  July  10, 
1703.  he  agreed  to  go  to  Detroit  as  a  hunter. 

Giard,  Anthoine.  Came  May  30,  nO,!.  He 
was  horn  at  Montreal  Aug.   31,  1661. 

Glard,  Gabriel.  He  was  born  at  Mon- 
treal April  15,  1675,  and  came  to  Detroit 
as  a  l)argeman  May  30,  1705.  He  was  mar- 
ried   three    times. 

Giguiere,  Jean  Raptiste,  being  about  to 
set  out  for  Detroit  June  28.  1701,  he  made 
a  present  of  his  property  In  the  event  of 
his  death  to  L<ouise  Malgnan.  He  returned 
to  Montreal  and  married  this  lady  Jan. 
22.   1704.    He  died  April   18,   1750. 

Gigulere,  Robert,  brother  of  Jean  Baptlste. 
He  was  l>orn  Jan.  28,  1663,  and  died  at 
Montreal    Dec.    10,    1711. 

Glial  ''n,    .Joseph.    Came   Aug.    26,    1708. 

Gode  (or  Gaude),  Jacques.  Came  as  voy- 
a,geur  Nov.  6,  1707.  He  was  married  Aug. 
15.  1743.  to  Marie  Louise  St.  Martin,  of 
Detroit. 

Godefroy  (or  Qodfroy),  .Jacques,  dit  Mau- 
boeuf.  Paul  Chevalier  and  Jacques  Gode- 
froy. dit  Mauboeuf.  voyageurs,  and  Jo- 
s-'ph  Senecal.  tool  maker  and  voyageur. 
formed  a  partnership  Sept.  10,  1710,  to  carry 
on  the  business  of  trading  at  Detroit.  To 
J'^is  business  Chevalier  contributed  255 
livrt«>.  Senecal  165  Uvres  and  Godefroy  43 
llvres  r^-id  two  guns.  The  partnership  was 
to  continue  for  two  years,  and  If  any  of 
the  partners  (?'ed  In  that  time  another 
IT  ui  would  bi.  taken  In  to  fill  the  place. 
Gains  and  losses  to  be  shared  equally. 
Go<lfroy  married  Marie  Anne  Chesne  at 
Detroit     Nov.    20.    1730. 

Gognet,  I^rancols,  called  Sansoucy,  a  sol- 
dier 

Go  lin.  Joseph,  came  May  19,  1708,  bring- 
ing lo  Duflguler,  major  of  Fort  Pontchar- 
train,  two  barrels  of  rum  (eau  de  vie),  one 
bai'i  Pl  of  salt,  two  liarrels  of  powder,  a 
small  parcel  of  goods  and  two  bags  of  bul- 
lets    In   all.    400   pounds. 

Qiuln.    Louis.    Came    May   IS,    1708. 

Qourlon  (or  Gorion),  Antolne,  son  of  Jean 
Bantlste   Gourion.     Born   April    26.    1708. 

Gourlon.  Jean  Baptlste,  sergeant  in  the 
troops  at  Detroit  (1708),  and  farmer.  His 
wire  was  Jjoulse  ChaudlUon,  thougl'  it  is 
gi''en  as  Jjoulse  Riiodlllon  in  St.  Anne's 
church. 

Oros.  Jean  Baptlste.  Born  at  Mi>ntreal 
I5ef.    22.    1672. 

Guillemot,  Marie  Chretlenne.  Came  to  De- 


troit in  the  employ  of  Cadillac  Aug.  30, 
17)0.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Jacques  Fran- 
cois Guillemot  and  Madeleine  Diipont.  Was 
born  at  Montreal  Sept.  29,  16115.  Heturned 
there  and  married  Jean  Jacquiers,  Nov.  24. 
A715.    and  died   Nov.    23.   1734. 

Guillet.  r^aul.  merchant.  Born  1690.  Died 
In  Montreal  June  7,  17.')3.  His  full  name 
seems  to  have  been  Paul  Alexander  Gull- 
let.  He  acted  as  godfather  to  Paul  Alex- 
ander Campau  Sept.  14,  1709.  and  the  In- 
fant appears  to  have  been  named  after 
*ilm.    He  came  to  Detroit  May  19,   1708. 

Gustlneau,   ly^uls. 

Guyon.  Jean,  dit  Lachapelle.  Came  Sept. 
C.   1710. 

Guyon.  Marie  Therese,  wife  of  Antolno 
De  Ija  Mothe  Cadillac.  Born  at  Quebec 
April  9.  1671.  Married  June  25,  1687.  [The, 
first   woman   in    Detroit). 

Hamelln,  Ftene,  voyageur.  Came  May  18, 
1710.  • 

Hemart  (or  Hainiart),  Marie  Ty)uise.  Horn 
Dec.  1.   1709.     Daughter  of  I'lerre  Halmart. 

Hemart  (or  Halmart),  Pierre,  farmer  iind 
soldier  in  the  company  of  Mr.  Liorimier. 
Married  Marie  I>aland  June  12.  1706. 

The  records  of  St.  Anne  contain  a  certifi- 
cate of  baptism,  Oct.  20,  1707,  of  Francois 
Delalnart.  son  of  Pierre  Delainart  and 
Marie  Filiastreau.  Fr.  Tanguay  concludes 
that  Hemart  and   Delainart  are  the  same. 

Henaux.  Pierre.  Sr.,  came  to  Detroit 
Sept.  27.  1708.  l^erhaps  the  name  shouKl  be 
Hunault. 

Henaux,    Pierre,   Jr.    Came  Sept.   27,    1708. 

Hubert.  Ignace,  called  Lrficrolx.  Came 
April  20.  1709.  He  was  a  son  of  Ignace  Hu- 
bert,   of    BoucherviUe. 

Hubert.  Jacques,  dit  I..acrijix.  Sr.  Tame 
as  bargeman  Mty  30.   170[. 

Hubert.  Jacques,  dit  l^a'^roix.  Cam"  in 
1706.  He  was  horn  May  12,  1KS4,  and  mar- 
ried Sept.  5.  1705.  to  Marie  ("urdinal.  He 
was  a   son  of  Jacques  Hubert,   of  Montreal. 

Hubert.  JjOu's.  voyageur.  fame  Nov.  6, 
17117.     He  was  a  brother  of  Ignace,   above. 

Hubert.  I'lerre.  son  of  Jacques  Hubert,  dit 
la  Croix,  and  Marie  CardinU.  Was  born 
at  Lietrolt  Dec.  11.  1709.  and  died  Oct.  11. 
1724,  The  family  Is  gene.-ally  known  by 
the  name  of  L.acr  ...v. 

Hubert.  Pierre,  voyageur.  Camo  Aus;.  11. 
1710.  He  was  a  brother  of  .lacques  Hubert, 
above,    and    married    Frincoise   Cardinal. 

Huet,  Pierre,  called  Duluth.  came  April 
2.  1707.  He  was  a  son  of  Joseph  Huet. 
born   Nov.    12.    1682. 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


Janot.  Pierre.  Came  May  22,  1709.  nephew 
of   Robert   Janot. 

Janot,  Robert  (called  La  Chapelle).  Came 
Aniil  2.  1707.  He  was  uncle  to  Joseuh  Baz- 
inet.    lilt   Totirblanche. 

Jardis.  Francois,  called  Rencontre.  Far- 
mer and   lot  owner  In  the   villaKS. 

Jean.  Raymond,  dit  Godon.  Contracted 
Oct.   12,   1703.    to  CO  to  Detroit  as  a  farmer. 

Jobln.  Marie  Masdelcine.  wife  of  Fran- 
cois Fafart.  dit  Delorme.  interpreter.  She 
died  at  Detroit.  Jan.  29.  1711.  agred  about 
40  vear.s. 

Joiy.  Jean,  surnamed  Jolvcoeur,  serdeaiit 
in  the  troops.  He  was  a  native  of  the 
parish  of  liury,  diocese  of  Xalntes.  Died 
at  Detroit.  Mich..  March  20,  1707.  and 
buried  in  the  cemetery  of  Fort  Pontchar- 
train. 

Juillet.  Jean,  called  Laplante.  Came  to 
Detroit   as  a  bargeman   May   30.    1705. 

Ijabatier  (or  Abatis)  Jean.  Owned  a  lot 
in  the  villaKe.  Jenn  Labattu.  Cochant. 
dit  ChamnaKne.  a  soldier.  Died  in  Detroit. 
Feb.  15,  1712.  I  think  this  is  the  same  per- 
son. 

Laberge.  Guillaume,  entered  into  an 
aKteement  Oct.  12.  1703,  to  come  to  Detroit 
as  a  farmer. 

Labrierre.    see    Normand. 

La   Ferriere.   Genevieve,    wife   of   Francois 
Bienyenue.    dit    Delisle.     Born    Dec.    8.    167'J. 
She  died  before  1709.    Her  family  name  Was 
Charon. 
.    Lafleur.    see   Poirler. 

Laferte,    see  Levoir. 

La  Forest,  Mareuerite.  wife  of  Antoine 
Levroir.  She  was  born  In  1689  and  married 
Antoine  Terou  Laferte  (Levroir)  June  10, 
1706. 

La   Grandeur,    see   Faverau. 

La  Jeunesse,    see   Stebre. 

L'l   Jeunesse.    Etienne.   came   in   1706. 

Lalande,   Marie,   wile  of  Pierre  Heniart. 

Laloire.    r -.    farmer.     There   is   nothinfi 

from  which  the  first  name  can  be  deter- 
mined. Taneuav  Klves  the  name  Alliiire  as 
the    same    surname    as    this. 

Lamareux,  Francois,  sieur  de  St.  Ger- 
main. Came  April  2.  1707.  Francois  Lim- 
oureux,  dit  St,  Germain,  a  merchant,  was 
born   1675   and   died    Dec.    30.    1740. 

La  Marque.  I'ier.e.  called  Sans  Soucy. 
Came  as  bargeman  May  30,  1705.  He  lived 
at  Liaprairie,  and  his  wife  was  Magdelelne 
Delisle. 

La    Montasne.     call<?d     Pierre     Mouet. 

La  Mothe.  Magdalaine,  (Cadillac's  daugh- 
ter. 


I>a  Mothe,  Marie  There,se,  daughter  of 
Cadillac,    baptized    Feb.    2,    1704. 

Lamy,  Joseph.  Set  out  from  Montreal 
Sept.  6.  170S.  to  conduct  Miidani  Ranez  to 
Detroit.  I^imy  drifted  farther  west  to 
Kaskaskia,  where  he  became  one  of  the 
trufsteea  of  the  church  in  1717,  and  was 
killed    by   the   Indians    in   1725. 

Lanarias,  Charlotte,  probably  Sanariaa, 
which   see. 

Langlois,  Antoine,  son  of  Jacques  Lang- 
lois.  Born  Nov.  13,  1709,  burled  July  26. 
1710,    at    Detroit,     aged    about    8V2    months, 

Langlois,  Jacques,  farmer  and  black- 
smith. Born  in  1676;  he  married  Marie 
Dussault.  He  resided  for  a  time  in  De- 
troit, but  returned  to  Montreal,  and  died 
there   Jan.    30,    7733. 

Langlois,  Paul,  farmer.  Came  April  11, 
1707. 

Laplante,  Catherine.  Wife  of  Bonaven- 
ture  Complen  dit  L'Esperance.  Her  name, 
according  to  the  record  of  baptisms  in 
Sorel,  where  she  was  born,  was  Marie 
Catherine  Badalllae,  dit  Liiplante,  and  she 
was   married   at  Montreal,   June   10,   1716. 

Liaporte,    see   Aguenet. 

Ijapralrie,    Jullen.     Came   Aug.    19,    1710, 

Larivee,  Jean.  Came  May  19,  170S.  He 
was  born  Aug.  12,  1607,  and  died  Sept.  9, 
1729. 

L'arrilmee — Tanguay  mentions  a  mm  by 
this  name,  his  first  name  being  unknown, 
who   died    In   Montreal,    Sept.    23,   1736. 

La  Salle,  Jean.  A  s^oldier  of  the  com- 
pany of  Duluth,  native  of  Peyrourade  In 
Beam,  died  Jan.  24,  1707.  His  b'Xly  was 
burieil  in  the  church  of  the  fort  Pontchar- 
train   du   Detroit. 

Laude.  Joseph,  dit  Mata.  Agrceil  to  go 
to   Detroit    as   farmer,    Oct.    12,    1703. 

La  Vallee,  Jean  Baptiste.  Soldier  of  the 
company  of  the  Cassagne.  native  of 
Uuintin.  bishoprick  of  St.  Brieux,  In  Brit- 
tany. Died  Nov.  19,  1711,  aged  about  30 
years. 

Lavols,  Jacques,  dit  St.  Amour.  Came 
as  bargeman.  May  30.  1705.  He  was  a 
.soldier  of  the  company  of  La  Come,  and 
married  Marie  liarbe  Cesar,  at  Montreal, 
Nov.    28,    1711. 

Leboeuf.  Pierre.  (7anie  as  bargeman.  May 
30,  1705.  His  wife  was  Marie  Francoise 
Auzon.  He  never  came  here  to  reside  per- 
manently,   but   some   of    his   children   did. 

Lp  Coutant.  dit  Rencontre.  Magdelaine. 
daughter  of  Francol.s  Judit  I^e  Coutant, 
dit  Rencontre,   bom   Feb.   5,   1710. 

I 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


89 


Ii'Ecuver.    Pierre. 

Lecluc,  Jean  Baptlste.  son  of  Jean  Leduc. 
of  Montreal.  Came  Oct.  11.  1710.  He  was 
born  In  1684,  and  married  Marie  Catherine 
Descaiy. 

Lefebvre.  LouLs,  Came  as  barseman  May 
30.  1705.  His  father  was  Jean  Baptist  Le- 
febvre.  of  Montreal. 

Lefebvre.  Nicholas.  Came  May  22.  1709, 
voyaseur.  (His  father.  Jean  Baptlste  Le- 
febvre,   lived    on   St,    Peter's  river.) 

Lefrautier.  Francol.s.  .«ieur  de  la  ValU>e 
Ranee  (see  Deranee).  Lieutenant  In  the 
detachment  of  marines  In  Canada.  Came 
Oct.     2,    1709;   died   Nov.    12.    1710. 

Leger.   BourRery.    Came  April  2.  1707^ 

Leser.  called  Parlsten.  Marie  Jeanne, 
daughter  of  Pierre  Le)?er.  baptized  Dec.  15, 
1707. 

LeKer  (dit  Parlslen).  Marie  Jeanne, 
dauehter  of  Pierre  Leeer.  dlt  Parlslen. 
Born  AuR-.  9.  1709.  These  two  children  of 
the  same  parents  bear  the  same  name. 
There  is   no   record  of   the  death  of  either. 

Leser  (called  Parlslen).  Pierre,  farmer. 
His  wife  was  Jeanne  Bollard,  to  whom  he 
was   married   at   Quebec.    Mav  15.    1706. 

Legros,  Jean,  called  Lavlolette.  born 
Dec.  22,  1673.  He  married  Marie  Buet.  Nov. 
24.    1700.     He   came   to   Detroit   Sept.    6.    1708. 

Leeros.  Nicolas.  Came  as  bargeman  May 
."iO.  1705.  He  was  an  elder  brother  of  Jean 
Lcfrros.  and  married  Marie  Charlotte  Tur- 
pin. 

Le  Malre.  Charles,  dit  St.  Germain,  vov- 
apreur.  Came  Oct.  17.  1707.  with  a  canoe 
of  merchandise  for  the  Recoliet  fathers. 
He  was  a  captain  of  militia  in  Lachine. 
Born   1676.   died  1751. 

Le  May,  Michel.  Aereed  April  25,  1704. 
to  come  to  Detroit  as  a  brlKadier  (fore- 
man   of   a   boat's   crew). 

Le  Mire.  Jean,  de  Marsolet.  Came  as 
bartfenian  May  30.  1705.  His  mother's  name 
was    Louise   Marsolet. 

Le  Moyne  Alexis,  sleur  de  Meniere.  Came 
before  Oct.   2.    1709. 

Le  Moine.  Jacques.  merchant.  Came 
June    21.    1706. 

Le   Moine.    Rene,    mercha,nt. 

Le  Moyne.  Marie,  wife  of  Francois  Bien- 
venue.  dit  Dellsle,  married  In  170S.  He  had 
another  (flr.st)  wife.  Genevieve  LJiferiere. 
Marie  Le  Movne,  ased  about  70  years,  was 
buried    Sept,    6.    1764. 

Le  Moyne.  Rene  lor  Rene  Alexander). 
Came  Oct.   12.    1706.     Born   in  1668,    he   mar- 


ried   Marie   Renee    Le    Boulanger.    Feb.    2. 
1712. 

Le  Page,  Marie.  Boin  in  Montreal.  1684. 
she  married  June  12.  1706.  at  Montreal. 
Francois  Beauceron.  The  date  of  his 
death  is  not  Riven,  but  it  was 
before  1709.  for  she  is  mentioned 
at  that  time  as  a  widow.  She  Is  the 
only  woman  to  whom  anv  land  was  con- 
ve.ved  by  Cadillac,  within  the  palisades. 
Her  husband  was  livinc  at  this  time  (1707). 
but  she  was  probably  separated  from  him. 
as  he  Is  not  mentioned.  She  must  have 
subseiniently  married  Joseph  Vaudry.  for 
they  are  called  leeal  hu.sband  and  wife  in 
1720.  and  had  a  child,  Mary  Magdeleine.  It 
is  with  the  name  of  Maiie  I.#paKe  that  the 
first  great  social  scandal  of  Detroit  is  con- 
nected. The  pages  of  St,  .Anne's  record  with 
Klarlng  plainness  the  false  step  of  this 
unfortunate  woman.  It  is  impossible  to 
tell.  now.  the  penance  that  she  performed 
in  atonement  for  her  wrOne-doing.  The 
church  record,  possibly,  operated  to  deter 
others  from  following  In  her  path.  Wheth- 
er the  man  lost  prestige  or  not  is  un- 
known! but  we  do  know  that  he  left  De- 
troit about  the  time  this  affair  became 
public,  and  returned  to  Montreal,  where  he 
was  appointed  the  trusted  agent  and  attor- 
ney for  Cadillac.  an<l  retained  that  posi- 
tion as  long  as  Cadillac  remained  at  De- 
troit. 

Le  Page.  Marie  Therese.  daughter  of 
Marie  Le  Page,  widow  of  the  late  Baus- 
seron  and  of  sleur  Grandmenll.  coramis 
du  Magazln.  Born  July  24.  17119.  Tliis  Is 
the  lirsl  record  of  an  illegitimate  child. 
It  is  not  profltab'e  to  trace  the  descent 
of    this    unfortunate. 

Lescuyer.  Antlioine.  came  Mav  28.  1708. 
He  was  born   in  Montreal  Mav  28.   1688. 

Lescuyer,  Jean  and  Paul.  brothers. 
Came  Mav  29.  1706.  They,  with  Jacques 
Minullle,  brought  10  cattle  and  3  horses 
from  Fort  Frontenao  tn  Detroit,  for  Cad- 
illac. Tliev  were  son  I'ierre  Lescuyer. 
b(]rn  In  Montreal  Juut-  iti.  1681.  and  Feb, 
15.    1676.    respectively. 

Lescuyer.  Pierre.  Came  as  bargeman. 
Mav  30.  1705.  He  was  a  brother  of  the 
three  prece(lln.g  persons.  Born  in  MnntreLil 
Frb.    9.    1674. 

Lesiedr.  Jean  Bantlste.  d:t  (Jalloi.  Came 
as    bargeman    Mav    30.    1705. 

L'Esperance,    see    Complen. 

L'Esplne,    Mar'e   Magdelalne.    wife   of   Jo- 


ii 


80 


UKTROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


»eph     I'arent.      She     was     the    daughter    of 
Jacques   Marette,    dlt    L'Esplne. 

l.'Esquier,    Pierre,    voyageur. 

1«  Tendre,  Adele  Genevieve,  probably 
came  to  Detroit  with  Mme.  La  Mothe 
Cadillac's  wife,  as  she  w.is  god-mother  to 
his  daughter,   Marie  Therese,   in  1704. 

Leveille.  Laurent,  came  June  15,  170G. 
He  wa.s  a   Panis  Indian. 

Levroir,  called  I^aferte,  Antoine.  The 
name  should  be  Antoine  Theroux.  He  was 
born  In   1677  and   died   Feb.   22,   1759. 

Levrolr,  Pierre,  son  of  Antoine  Levrolr, 
above,  baptized  Feb.  22,  1707.  He  married 
Rose    Poitevln    In    1733. 

L'Isle,    s»ee    Blenvenue. 

Livernois.  B'rancls.  Francois  Benoit,  dit 
Livernois,  came  to  Detroit,  April  2,  1707. 
He  married  Angelique  Chagnon  In  1710. 
The  n.ame  Livernois  Is  quite  common  In 
Detroit   now. 

Loisel,  Barbe,  wife  of  Francois  Legautier, 
Esq.,  sieur  de  L.avallee  Ranee,  lieutenant. 
Set  out  to  go  to  her  said  husband  at  De- 
troit, Sept.  6,  1708.  She  was  married  three 
times.  First  to  Pierre  Roussel,  then  to 
Legautier,  and,  In  1713,  to  Francois  Fafard, 
dit    DeLorme. 

Loranger,  Joseph,  dlt  Rlvard,  dit  La 
Jauge.   see  Rivard. 

Loranger,  Nicholas,  dlt  Rlvard,  voyageur, 
see  Rivard. 

Lubert,    Jacques. 

Magdeleyne,  Jean  Uaptiste,  dit  Ladou- 
ceur,  came  in  1706.  He  was  born  In  Mon- 
treal  m  1681  and  married   Elizabeth   Millet. 

Magnant,  Antoine,  dlt  L' E.«perance.  He 
lived  within  the  palisades  and  owned  a  lot 
there,  but  he  Is  described  in  Ste.  Anne's 
records  as  a  citizen  of  Montreal  (1708),  a 
voyageur  at  present  at  Fort  Pontchartrain. 
He   was   born   Sept.   24,   1682,   at  Lapralrle. 

Magnan.  Gaspard.  dit  Champagne,  came 
as  b'UgPmiin.  May  30.  1705.  He  married 
Magdi'lelne    Marsille.    Feb.    9.    1699. 

Maionee.     Marguerite. 

Maisme,    Marie. 

Major,   see  Hou<ran. 

Malet.  Antoine.  vim  of  Pierre  Malet.  Bap- 
tized Aug.  16.  1706.  He  married  Therese 
Mailhot.   Aug.   11.    1730. 

Mallet.  I'Yan''oi9,  son  of  Pierre  Mallet. 
V)orn   July   '28.    1708. 

Mallt't.  I'ievro,  farmer,  voyageur,  citizen 
of  Detroit.  His  wife  >.  .s  Magdeleine  Du- 
fresne.    widow   of    Francois    I'eiletier. 

Mallet.     Rene,     voyageui',     came    Nov.     6. 


1707.  Apparen<ly  he  was  the  father  of 
Pierre   Mallet,    anil    died    at    Montreal,    Oct. 

24.  1716. 

Marces.   Francois,  a  soldier. 

Mavcll,    Andre,    came   May    17.    1710. 

Maren<leau.  Marianne  (or  Mnranda)  wife 
of  Antoine  Dupuis.  dit  Beaurogird.  They 
were  married  at  Mont>'pal.  Juno  9.  1706, 
and  she  returned  and  died  there  Jan.  8. 
1730. 

Ma.-fiuet.  Francois.  His  wife  was  Louise 
Galt?rneau.  and  they  were  married  April 
26.  1706.  at  Quebec.  They  leW  Detroit  some 
time  before  Cadillac  did,  and  their  third 
child.  Pierre,  w.is  Dorn  m  Montreal  In 
1710. 

Marquet.  .loseph,  son  of  Francois  Mar- 
quet.   born   May  22,    1707. 

Marqm't.  Marguerite,  daughter  of  Fran- 
cois  Marquet.    boi'n   March    20,    17ii9. 

De  Marsac  de  Cobtrou.  Francol.s,  son  of 
Jacob  de  Marsac.  Baptized  Oc«l.  22.  1706. 
He  married  Therese  Ocik-  Campau  In 
1734.  and  one  of  their  daughters.  Marie 
Louise,  became  the  wife  of  Robert  Navari'e 
in   1762.       • 

De  Marsac  de  Cobtrion,  Jacques,  son  of 
Jacob  de  Marsac.  Born  Nov.  7,  1707;  died 
Dec.  24.  1745,  aged  about  40  years.  The 
priest  guessed  at  his  age.  but  the  record 
shows  that   he    was  38   vears  of   age. 

De  Marsac  de  Cobtrion.  Jacob,  sieur 
Desroclieis.  sergeant  In  a  company  In  the 
detachment  of  marines.  His  wife  wa.s 
Therese         David.  He         was  buried 

April  27.  1747.  aged  80  years.  Their  son 
Jacques  married  Marie  Anne  (^hapoton. 
daughter  of   Jean    Chapoton.    surgeon,    Jan. 

25.  1745. 
Marsac.   Jerome. 
Marsille.    Andre. 

Martiac,  Jerome,  dit  Sansquartier  (or 
Sanscartler).  son  of  Maurice  Martiac  and 
Jeanne  Damiot.  of  the  parish  of  Chaubou- 
ilne.  bishopric  of  Brines  in  Limozin.  Died 
June  10,  1709.  He  was  a  soldier  of  Deti-olt. 
His  wife  was  Marie  Anne  Gallien.  His 
name  is  sometimes  spelled   Mariilac. 

Mirtlac.  Magdellene.  daughter  of  Hieros- 
mes  Martiac  (called  Sansquartier).  Bap- 
tized   Jan.    22.    1707. 

Martiac  (cab  d  Sans  Quartier).  Pierre 
.lerome.  son  o'  Jerome  Martiac  dit  Sans 
liuartier.     Baptized   March  2S,   1709. 

Martin  Claude,   came  June  15,   1706. 

Masse  Francois,  farmer.  His  wife  was 
Margut  Couk.     called     l>at1eur.       Thev 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


81 


Mar- 


I 


were    married    in    1702.     She    had    been    the 

willow    of    Jean    Fafard, 

Mii?8e.  Jeanne,  becanu'  the  wife  of 
Michel  Camuau  in  161>«.  She  had  a  dauKh- 
ter  Marie  Anne  Camnau,  who  became  the 
wife    of   Pierre    Belleuerche. 

Masse.  Michel.  He  lived  in  Montreal  but 
visited    Detroit. 

Maurlsseuu.  Jacques,  voyaReur.  ("ame 
June   15.    170(i. 

Maurivan.  Jacques.     Came  1706. 

Maurivan,   Louis.     Came   1T06. 

Melain,  Marie,  wife  of  Blaise  Fondurose, 
a  sijldier.  She  was  born  in  1689,  married 
June  9,  1706,  lived  In  Detroit  several  years, 
but  returned  to  Montreal  and  died  there 
April    26,    1713. 

Merssan,  Jean,  dlt  Laplerre.  Came  as 
bargeman,  May  30,  1705.  He  is  mentioned 
as  a  Marguillier,  or  church  trustee,  prob- 
ably of  Quebec,  by  Tanguay,  He  was 
bom  in  1685  and  died  April  16,   1718. 

Michel,  Jean,  agreed  to  go  to  Detroit  -.  ^ 
farmer,  Oct.  12,  1703.  He  probably  lived  ,t 
St.    Francois   du    Lac. 

Mikltchia,  Joseph.  Slave  belonging  to 
Michel  Bezailln:  Tette  Plate  (flat  head). 
Baptized,    March   10,    1710,    16   years  old. 

Milhe«;  (or  Mill<?t).  Nicolas,  came  March 
3.  1709.  Jan.  4,  1712,  he  married  Louise 
Cardinal. 

Minville   (or  Miville),   Jacques.    Came  May 

29,  1706.  He,  with  Paul  and  Jean  Lescuy- 
er,  brought  10  cattle  and  3  horses  from 
Fort  Frontenac  to  Detroit,  for  Cadillac. 
His  wife  was  Catherine  Lescuyer,  of  Mon- 
treal. 

Moitie,  Marie,  wife  of  Pierre  Chesne,  ac- 
cording to  Tanguay,  married  Oct.  9,  1700, 
at  Montreal.  She  was  widow  of  Jean 
Magnan,    and    died    Dec.    31,    1727. 

Monet.    Pierre,    see    La    Montague. 

Monjeau,  Gabriel,  voyageur.  Came  April 
23,  1710.  He  was  born  in  1690  and  died 
April  27,  1718.  He  did  not  stop  Kmg  in 
Detroit. 

Manteil,  Rene,  dlt  Sansremissipn.  .Came 
as  bargeman  May  30,  1705.  He  did  not 
remain  long  in  Detroit.  He  died  at  St. 
Oura,    March    4,    1724. 

Montfort,    ,    soldier   of    the    company 

Of  Desgly;  found  dead  in  the  woods  at 
the  foot  of  a  tree,  buried  Dec.  21,  1709. 
I  cannot  find  the  first  name  of  this  soldier. 

Morand.    PieiTe.    Came   as   liargeman    May 

30,  1705.  Ho  died  at  Batiscan,  June  11, 
1729. 


Moreau,   Joseph.    Came  as  bargeman   May 

30,  1705.    His    home    was    at    Batlscan. 
Moiin,    Muise,    dlt    Chesnevert.     Came    as 

bargeman  May  30,  1705.  He  was  a  sergeant 
in  the  company  of  Beaucour.  Born  in 
I'oitlera.  I'oitou.  He  married  Magdeletne 
Monin,  Nov.  26,  1707,  and  ma.de  his  home  at 
(Juebec. 

Morisseau,    Loui.".     Came  June   15,    1706. 

Morisseau,  Pierre.  Came  as  bargeman 
May,    30,    1703. 

Normand,  Angelique,  daughter  of  I»ul3 
Normand,  dit  Labrlere.  Born  June  20,  1707. 
She  was  married  three  times;  to  Jean  De 
I..aunay,  to  Jacques  Bed.a,  and  to  Jacquts 
Hermier. 

Normand,  Louis,  dit  Labriere,  tool  mak- 
er. Came  June  7,  1706,  to  work  at  his 
trade.  He  was  born  at  Quebec,  Oct.  13, 
1680.  Married  Anne  Bruneau,  May  29,  1701, 
and   died   July   15,    1729. 

Normand  (called  La  Urie.>-),  Marie 
Therese,  daughter  of  Louis  Normand.  dit 
La   Briere.    bom   at   DetioK,    Sept.    1.    1705. 

Ouabankikcv^  Marguerite,  an  Indian  of 
the  Mil  mi  t.ibe.  the  wife  of  I'ierre  Roy. 
There  is  no  record  of  her  marriage,  though 
the  priest  called  hef  a  legal  wife.  She  died 
of  smallpox.  Oct.  31,  1732.  She  had  six  chil- 
dren,   baptized    in    the   c  vurch   at   Detroit. 

Pachot.  Jean  Marie  Duniel.  He  Wiis  born 
July  30.  1694,  and  was  the  son  of  Francois 
Vienay  Pachot  and  Charlotte  Francoise 
Juchereau.  After  his  father's  death,  his 
mother  mariled  Francois  de  la  Forest,  a 
lieu"tenant  under  Cadillac,  and  afterwards 
commandant  at  Detroit. 

Paquet,  Jean.  He  was  born  in  1682.  and 
Feb.   20.   1708.   maivied  Marie  Charland. 

Parent.  Joseph,  farmer,  master  toolmaker 
and  brewer.  His  wife  was  Magdeleine  Ma- 
rette.    whom   he   married   at   Beauport.   Jan. 

31.  1690.  On  the  !>th  of  MJrch.  1706,  ho 
agreed  with  Cadillac  to  go  to  Detroit  to 
work  at   his   trade  for'  three  years. 

I'arent.  Mai'ie.  daughter  of  Joseph  Parent 
and  Magdeleine  Marette,  dit  Lespine.  bap- 
tized   Jan.    21.    1709. 

Parent.  Marie  Madelaine,  daughter  of  Jo- 
seph, above,  bo.'n  at  Beauport,  Dec.  15, 
1692.  and  came  with  her  parents  to  De- 
troit   between    the    years    1706   and    1709. 

l^-irent.  Marguerite,  daughter  of  Joseph, 
above,    born    at   Montreal.    July   7.    1698. 

Parlslen    (-"ee   Leger). 

Pastorelle.  Anne,  wife  of  Andre  Channet, 
dit  Camiraud.     He  was  her  second  husband. 


88 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC, 


Her  first  husband  was  Jean  Moiloeau. 

Patenostie.  Jean,  of  St.  Lambert,  came 
Sept.    6.    1710. 

Pepin,  Jean,  camo  as  barReman,  May  30, 
1705. 

Periin.  Mathieu.  di*  Giraho  (or  Oaraut), 
came  Oct.  2.  170!).  He  was  taUon  prisoner 
by  the  Iroquois  while  taklnR  Koods  to  Fcrt 
Krjntenac  In  1888.  The  next  year  Jeanne 
Pllet  was  also  taken  prisoner  by  the  Iro- 
Quoln.  They  met  as  prisoners,  and  forming 
an  a<tachmpnt  for  each  other,  were  mar- 
ried by  h\.  Miller,  Jesuit,  who  was  also  a 
captive   of   the    Iroquol.s   at    that    time. 

Petit.  Mai1e.  wife  of  Pierre  Polrler,  dlt 
Lalleur.  Tannuay  Klves  the  name  as  Marie 
Clemence    Maupetlt. 

Phlllppes.  dit  Helhumeur.  Be.nard.  ser- 
geant in  the  troops  of  the  depa.tment  of 
marines.  He  married  Anne  Gallien.  widow 
of  J*;rome  Marlllac.  They  had  both  lived 
In  Detroit,  but  were  married  in  Mont,'eal, 
March  18,   1712. 

Picard.  Alexis,  came  as  bargeman.  May 
30.  1705.  Brother  of  Francois,  mentioned 
below.  He  was  born  In  1681,  and  died  at 
Montreal.    April   22,   1746. 

Picard.  F.'ancols,  came  as  voyagcur,  May 
30.  1705.  His  wife  was  Anne  Farreau.  He 
died  at  Detroit.   Oct.    7.    1728, 

Pichet,  Pierre.  He  was  boiH  in  1674, 
married  Marie  Ann  Sylvester  a<  Polnte 
aux  T.-embles  In  lC!t7  and  cVletl  Aug-. 
12.    1712,    at    Cap    Sante. 

Plneau.  Thomas,  dlt  Pundemour,  sergeant 
In  troops  of  the  marine.  He  was  stationed 
In   Detroit  In  1709. 

THE    VILLAGE    DIRECTORY. 

The  following  is  the  coiieluding  in- 
stallment of  the  tlirectory  of  Cadillac's 
village: 

Plnet,  Yves,  gunsmith,  came  to  Detroit, 
March  !).  1706.  to  woiTt  at  his  trade  fur 
three    years. 

Plante,    Zacharle. 

Polrler  (called  La  Fleur),  Angellque, 
daughter  of  Pierre  Polrler.  dlt  Lafleur, 
born   March   10.    1709. 

Polrler.  Pierre  Rene,  dlt  Lafleur.  farmer 
and  soldier.  He  married  Marie  Clemence 
Maupetlt,  June  12.  1707.  Her  name  is  given 
in    Ste.     Anne's    records    as    Marie    Prtit. 

Pothler.  Toussalnt,  dit  I.^  Ve.-dure,  voy- 
ageur.  came  Sept.  22.  1707.  He  lived  In 
Montreal,  was  Ijorn  in  1675  and  married 
Mai'guerite   Thunay. 

Prlmo.  Jean,  dit  La .  came  as  barge- 


man. May  30.  170.'..  The  record  from  which 
this  name  is  taken  has  been  partly  <le- 
stroyed  by  time  and  a  portion  of  th<'  name 
nlillterated. 

Protean.  Angellque.  wife  of  Btlenne  Bou- 
trun.  dlt  Major.  After  the  death  of  Bou- 
tron  she  mar.led  PU'rre  Germain  and  died 
In    1754. 

Quarante.  Sols,  or  CJuiran<  Sous,  see 
Cheanouvouzon. 

Quesnel.  Jacques  and  Jean,  brothers, 
voyiigeurs,  came  May  18.  1710.  They  were 
."uns  of  Oliver  Que'^nel.  Jean  wa.M  born  ,at 
Montreal  and  Jacquess  at  Lachlne.  They 
lived    at    Lachlne. 

Quilenchlve.  I  .?annot  make  out  this 
name.  I  think  it  to  be  an  Indian  name, 
though  I  may  be  as  sadly  nils^taken  as  I 
was  with  the   name  of  Xaintonge. 

Rablllard.    Nicolas,    came    Sept.    27.    1706. 

Reaume.  Charles,  voyageu,'  came  Sept. 
28.  1710.  The  only  person  I  can  find  bearing 
this  name  was  a  son  of  Rene  Reaume.  born 
April   17.    Ibs8.    at   i.  iiarleshourg. 

Renaud.  Cli  irles,  esquire,  sieur  Dubuisson, 
lieutenant  of  a  company  and  commandant 
at  Port  PonKcl-.artrain  at  Detroit,  in  .  the 
absence  of  M.  de  Lafo.-est.  When  Cadlllao 
left  Detroit.  Laforest  agreed  to  take  his 
place  here  at  once,  but  was  taken  sick 
and  Dubuisson  was  sent  here  temporarily  ' 
to    liold    it    until    Laforest's    i-ecovery. 

Rt-naud.  Louis,  dlt  Duval,  came  June  16, 
1706.  Antoine  Renaud  married  Frincolse 
Duval.  The  records  do  not  con',..iln  the 
name  of  Louis  as  or  of  their  chiidr',>n.  but 
because  he  was  called  Duval.  I  conclude 
he    was    a    child   of    this    marriage. 

Rencontre,   or  Rancontre.    see  Jardls. 

Reneau.  Laui'ent.  voyageur.  came  May 
23.  1710.  He  married  Anne  Guyon  at  St. 
Augustin  in  169!}.  and  after  1698  he  lived 
at    Montreal. 

Rhudlllon,  Louise,  wife  of  Jean  Baptiste 
Gourlou.  This  name  shoi-ld  be  ChaudlUon. 
Phe  was  born  Jan.  11.  1682,  at  Sorei,  and 
married   Gourlou   June   22.   1701. 

Rlchai'd  Claude,  came  April  2,  1707.  The 
only  Claude  Rlchai'd  1  find  was  a  son  of 
Gulilaume  Richard.  l)orn  Jan.  30.  1684.  I 
find    no   record   of   hia    marriage   or   death. 

Rlcha.d.  Jean,  farmer  and  interpreter 
for  the  king.  His  wife  was  Marie  Anne 
Ladecouverte  (or  Yon).  Being  dangerously 
wounded  July  7,  1708.  he  states  that  he 
left  with  his  sister,  Mme.  Duplessis,  720 
Ilvre.<».  for  which  he  holds  her  note,  now 
in  the  hands  of  his  cousin,    Jacques  Lanir- 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


iols.  and  he  wlslies  <he  gum  paid  to  Pierre 
Roy.  He  did  not  die,  however,  until  sev- 
eral   years    late.'. 

Rlvard.  Claude,  sleur  de  I.ioranKe.  Agreed 
with  the  company  of  the  colony  of  Canada, 
represented  by  Fnincolse  Dumontlei*.  of 
Montieal.  and  Kticnne  Volland  de  Radlsson, 
of  Detroit,  to  ko  <o  Detroit,  July  10.  1703, 
as    an    Interpreter. 

Ulvard.  Francois,  dll  Muntendre,  came 
May  19,    1708. 

Rlvard.  Robert,  came  as  bai'geman  May 
30.    170.5. 

Rlvard.  .lo.seph.  dit  Montendre.  came 
May   18,   1708. 

Rlvard,   Mathurin,   came  May  18,   1708. 

Rlvard.  Nicolas,  born  in  168ti.  He  mar- 
ried Marie  Joseph  Raux  in  1724,  and  died 
In    1729. 

Rlvard.  Pierre,  dit  Lanouette.  voyageur, 
came  Sept.  6.  1710.  He  was  bom  In  1686 
and  married  Marie  Anne  Calllla,  June  9 
1721. 

Rlvard.  Robert,  came  May  18,  1708.  Rob- 
ert. Joseph,  Mathurin.  Claude,  and  Fran- 
cols  were  sons  ot  Robert  Rlvard.  of  Batls- 
can. 

Robert.  Francois,  came  In  1706.  He  wa.s 
born  In  1678.  marrl<5d  Marie  Lanctot  in  1712 
and   dlod    in    1756. 

Robe.-t,  Joseph,  bom  In  1674.  married  in 
1701.  and  died  in  1748.  He  and  Francois 
and  Pierre  were  brothers.  He  came  to  De- 
troit   May    12.     1707. 

Robert,  Pierre,  dit  Lafontalne.  He  moved 
to  Detroit  May  19.  1708.  with  his  wife  and 
children.  He  had  been  there  befo.e.  haying 
come  June  15.  1706.  In  charge  of  a  canoe 
of  merchandise.  His  wife  was  Angellque 
Ptolomee  (or  Tholme).  After  he  died  his 
widow  married  Guillaume  Bouche.  Aug.  16. 
1716.  At  the  marriai  of  his  son  Antolne 
In  1743.  this  Pierre  Robert  Is  referred  to 
as  "the  late  Antolne  Robert."  The  son 
married    Marie    Louise    Becmond. 

Robert.  Prudent,  came  Aug.  12.  1710.  He 
was  another  brother  of  Pierre  Robert  all 
being  sons  of  Louis  Robert.  His  wife,  whom 
he  married  at  Drtrolt,  Jan.  7,  1711,  was 
Magdeleine     Pafard.     dit     Delortne. 

Rose.  Nicolas,  soldier.  He  was'  born  in 
1674  and  died  In  1746.  His  wife  was  Marie 
Anne   Prudhomme. 

Roy.  Edmond.  dit  Chatellereau.  Agreed  to 
come  to  Detroit  July  28,  1704.  as  brigadier 
(foreman  of  a  boat's  crew).  He  was  to 
receive  300  llvres  for  the  trip.  While  he 
never    resided    in    Detroit,    his    son    Joseph 


33 

uld.   and   was  married   here   In   1736  to  Mag- 
delelne    Perthuls. 

Roy.  Louis,  came  as  bargeman  May  30, 
1705.  He  w:is  born  In  165!l  and  died  before 
1713. 

Roy.  Marguerite,  daughter  of  Pierre  Roy. 
Baptized     April     27.     1704. 

Roy.  Marie  Louise,  daughter  of  Pierre 
Roy.  She  was  baptized  May  19.  1708.  mar- 
ried Alexis  De  Rulsseau.  and  died  in  child- 
birth.   Dec.   3.   1735.   aged  about  31   years. 

Roy,  Marie  Magdelelne,  daughter  of 
I'lerre  Roy.  born  May  25,  1710.  She  mar- 
ried IMerre  Chesne  dit  La  Butte,  and  died 
Oct.    20.    1732.    aged   22   years. 

Roy,  Pierre.  It  has  been  stated  that  this 
was  the  llrst  man  at  Detroit  and  that  he 
lived  with  the  Indians  in  this  neighborhood 
before  Cadillac  came.  His  wife  was  Mar- 
guerite  Ouabanklkoue,    a   Miami   Indian. 

Roy.  I'lerre.  son  of  Pierre  Roy.  Baptized 
April    21.    1706. 

Roze.  Francois  and  Nicholas,  brothers. 
Came  April  13.  1709.  They  were  sons  of 
Noel  Rose  and  born  at  Quebec.  The  name 
should  be  Rose. 

Ruiet,  Jean,  came  as  bargeman.  May  30 
1705. 

Ruiet,  Rene,  came  as  bargemun  May  30 
1705. 

St,  Aubln.  Jean,  corporal  In  the  garrison. 
Came  to  Detroit  with  Pierre  Dui'oy,  April 
11.    1707.     See  Casse. 

St.  Marie.  Francois  Marie,  came  as  barge- 
man.  May  30.  1705. 

St.  Yves,  Joseph,  came  Aug.  11,  1710  (en- 
gage). He  was  born  In  1692  and  cons=«- 
quently  only  18  years  of  age.  The  famuy 
name  was   fet.   Ange.   dit   Hogue. 

St.  Yves,  Pierre,  voyageur.  Came  April 
18,  1710.  Elder  brother  of  ths  preceding. 
He  was  born   in  1682. 

Salomon.  I  think  this  name  Is  a  mistake, 
though  It  occurs  in  one  of  Cadillac's  con- 
veyances. I  think  he  Intended  Salomon 
Joseph   Du  Vestin. 

SJnaria.  Charlotte,  wife  of  Jacques  Des- 
moullns  dit  Philis.  She  was  born  in  1679 
and   died  May  5,   1744  at   Detroit. 

Sanstiunrtler,    see    Martlac. 

Sarrazln.  Joseph,  came  as  bargeman.  May 
30.  1705.  Son  of  Nicholas  Sarrazln.  born 
Feb.    24,    1681, 

Sarrazln.  Nicholas,  b.-other  of  above,  born 
Jan.    n.    1686. 

Sarrazln.  Pierre,  came  as  bargeman.  May 
30.  1705.  Another  brother  of  above,  bom 
Feb.    26.    1684. 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


9en«cal,  Adrlen.  came  as  barKeman  May 
30.    1705. 

Senecal.  Jocepli.  came  Sept.  10.  171i'.  He 
was  horn  In  1674  .m.l  'lle.l  Feb.  28.  17J«. 
His    wife    wa.s    L.uul8e    Ha.-i'aii.    or   Harros. 

Serond    (called    L.'Evt'llle).      Jean. 

Simon,  OIlbeK.  or  Simon  Sanspeur.  dit 
Gilbert.  serBeant  In  the  troops.  Hl9  wife 
was  MarRuerlte  Le  Pane.  She  died  July 
'M.     1730.     at     Detroit. 

Simon  (probably  Pierre^,  came  May  18. 
1708.  The  tlr.st  nanif  of  thl.^  party  has  be.en 
destr'oyed  In  the  notarial  record,  but  his 
residence    Is   Riven    us   Polnte    aux    Tremble. 

and  the  only  Simon  living  at  that  place  at 
this    ;lme  was   Pierre. 

Slrler.    Martin,    see    Clrier. 

Slave  (Panls)  Jacques.  A  little  slave  of 
Pierre  Roy,    aged   7  or  8  years. 

Slave.  The  first  mention  of  negroes  Is 
two  of  Louis  Campau's  In  17S6. 

Slave  (Panls.se).  Marie  Jeanne,  belonging 
to  Jean  Richard,  voyageur,  aged  about  15 
years. 

Slave  (Panls.  Indian),  belonging  to  Mr. 
Moynler.  aged  32  to  14  years,  died  Nov.  16, 
1710. 

Slave  (Panls,  Indian),  Joseph,  called  E.s- 
cabla.  Belonging  to  Joseph  Parent,  aged  21 
or   22   years.     He   died   Jan.    21,    1710. 

Sontleureuse,  Blaise;  lately  employed  as 
a  soldier  in  the  company  of  De  La  Moth©, 
(1707).  Tanguay  says  his  name  should  be 
Fondurose. 

Sontleureuse,  Marie,  daughter  of  Blaise 
Sontleureuse.    Born    May    14,    1707. 

Stebre,  dlt  La  Jeunesse,  Agathe,  daugh- 
ter of  Pierre  Stebre,  dlt  La  Jeunesse.  Bom 
Feb.    14,    1710,    died   Feb.    21,    1710. 

Stebre,  dlt  La  Jeunesse,  ,  daugh- 
ter of  Joseph  Nicolas  Stebre.  Bom  Jan. 
12,  1711.  The  prieat  has  omitted  to  give  the 
first  name  of  the  Infant.  On  Jan.  19,  1733, 
they  burled  Angellque  Esteve,  wife  of 
Pleire  Belleperohe,  aged  about  21  years. 
She  died  of  smallpox.  This  may  be  the 
one  born  Jan.   12,   1711. 

Stebre,  called  La  Jeunesse,  Pierre,  late 
a  soldier.  Died  July  16,  1736.  His  wife  was 
Marie  Magdelelne  Frappler.  She  died  Dec. 
22,  1759,  aged  80  years.  He  was  at  Mon- 
treal Aug.  27.  1767.  He  had  a  daughter 
Marguerite,  who  married  Jean  Chapoton, 
surgeon  of  the  fort,  July  16,  1720.  She  died 
July  7,  1753,  aged  45  years.  The  name  is 
sometimes  given   us  as  Esteve,    and   Steve, 


but  the  descendants  are  nov    usually  called 
I^  Jeuni'Sse. 

Stebre,  dlt  Lrfi  Jeunesse,  Pierre,  son  of 
Pierre  Stebre.  Born  May  1  1708.  Married 
(as  Steve)  Marie  Desforgeg,  widow  of 
Francois  PIcard,  Oct.  24,  172S.  Died  March 
24,    1721. 

Surgerc,  Blaise,  farmer.  I  find  frequent 
mention  of  this  name,  but  cannot  Identify 
Its  possessor,  unless  It  Is  the  aame  as 
Sontleureuse,    above. 

Susart,  called  Delorme,  Francois,  (prob- 
ably an  error  on  the  part  of  the  priest  In 
writing  the  name  of  Fafard),   dlt  Delorme. 

Tabaux,  Jacques.  Came  as  targeman, 
May  20,   1705. 

Tabaux,  Jean,  Jr.  Came  May  l.";,  1708. 
He  married  Angellque  Brunet  In  1710  and 
died   at   Montreal   In   1728. 

Tacet,    Pierre. 

Tesee     Francois. 

Tessler,     Paul.    He     was     a     resident     of 
Montreal.    Came  to  Detroit  In  1708.  and  was 
here  again   In   1710,    when   he  witnessed   the 
marriage  of  Martin  Clrier  and  Marie  Anne  ^ 
Bone. 

Tessler.    Antolne.    farmer. 

Tetreau.  Jean  Baptlste.  Joseph.  and 
Laurent,    brothers.     Came   April   21.    1707. 

Tholme.  Angel.que.  wife  of  Pleire  Robert. 
This  name  is  given  as  Angellque  Dalonne. 
and  in  ?ome  places  as  inoime,  by  Tanguay. 
She  was  burled  In  1744.  aged  about  65  years. 
She  married  GulUaume  Bouche.  after  the 
death   of  Robert. 

Tlchenet.   Pierre. 

Tontv.  Alphonse.  captain  of  a  company, 
aged  68  years.  Burled  Nov.  10.  1727.  His 
first  wife  was  Anne  PIcote.  She  and  Cad- 
illac's wife  were  the  first  women  in  De- 
troit. She  died  In  1714.  and  In  1717  he  mar- 
ried Marianne  Delamarque.  widow  of  Jean 
Baptlste  Nolan.  Tontv  was  an  Italian,  and 
frequent  references  are  made  to  the  Ital- 
ian  schemer. 

Touslgnan,  Michel,  dlt  LePolnte.  Camt 
Sept.  6,  1710.  He  was  the  son  of  Pierre 
Touslenan.  and  married  Marie  Catherine 
Lemay. 

Trottler,  Alexis.  Came  May  18,  1708.  Son 
cf  Antolne  Trottler  and  brother  of  Paul, 
below.  He  married  Marie  Louise  Roy  at 
Detroit.  Jan.  6.  1735.  and  after  her  death 
niarr.'. d    Catherine   Godfroy. 

Trottler.    Gabriel,    dlt    St.    Jean.    Came   as 
bargeman   May   30.    1705. 
Trottler,   Joseph,   dlt   Desrulsseaux.     Came 


DETROIT  UNDER  CADILLAC. 


35 


on  Oct.  17.  1708.  He  was  a  brother  of 
Michel,  and  born  In  1668.  His  wife  wna 
Krancolse   CulUerler. 

Trottler.  Michel,  sleur  de  Beauhlen.  Came 
May  18.  1708.  He  wag  born  In  1675  and  mar- 
ried   AeneH  Godfroy   In   1700. 

TrotHer.  Paul  (brother  of  JoseDh).  Came 
Oct.   17.    1708. 

Truteau.  Jean  Baptiate.  married  Maxde- 
Iclne  Parant  Sept.   1.   1715.  and  died  in  1754. 

Trutenu,  Jonenh.  carpenter,  brother  of 
Jean  Baptlste.  Thev  came  together  April 
2.  1707.  Jo.senh  died  at   Montreal   in  1745. 

Tuffe.  called  du  Fresno.  Antome.  The 
only  person  I  c^n  find  bearlnsr  this  name 
was  born  In  Montreal  Ausr.  21.  1677. 

Tune,  Maifdelelne.  wife  of  Pierre  Malet. 
This  name  should  be  Du  Fresne.  She  was 
born  in  1669  and  married  Francois  Pelle- 
tler.  After  his  death  she  married  Pierre 
Malet.   or   Maillet. 

Turpin.  Jean  Baptlste.  son  of  Alexander 
Turpln  and  Charlotte  Beauvals.  of  Mon- 
treal. Married  Marguerite  Fatard.  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  Jean  Fafard.  and  Marguerite 
Conuiue.  of  this  parish  and  new  colony. 
May   5,    1710. 

Turpin,  Jean  Baptlste.  voyaKeur.  Came 
Oct.    2.    1709. 

Turpin.  Jean  Baptlste,  son  of  Jean  Bap- 
tlste  Turpin.     Born    Dec.    14.   1710. 

Vaudry.  Etienne.  voyageur.  C'i»me  Ausr. 
;;.  1707.     Born  at  Three  Uivers.  Oct.  27,   lesa. 

Vaudry.  Jacques.  Came  as  bargeman. 
Miy  30,  1703.  Born  in  1670.  and  died  in 
1743.  • 


Vaudry.  Joneph.  Came  A'ik.  10.  1710. 
He  was  born  in  1687.  and  married  Mar- 
guerite Lepage,  widow  of  Simon  OlibtTt. 
Ktlenne.  Jactiues  and  Joseph  were  brothers 
and  Bons  of  Jacaues  Vaudry  and  Jeanne 
Renault. 

Veron,  Etienne,  de  Orandmeuli,  appoint- 
ed altornev  In  fact  for  Cadillac.  July  26, 
1709.  Hl:-t  name  has  been  mentioned  abo.e. 
He  wris  born  In  1649.  married  Mirle  Moral. 
dif  Montendre.  and  died  at  Three  Itlvera 
May  IS.  1721.  He  lived  several  years  at 
Detroit,  and  was  a  man  of  considerable 
importance,  having  charge  of  the  public 
storehouse  and  acting  us  amanuensis  f(jr 
Cadillac. 

VIen.  Ixnace.  Came  as  voyageur,  June 
12,    1706.     Died    17,51.    aged    80   years. 

Villain.  Pierre,  soldier  in  company  of  De 
Le    Mothe. 

Volant.  Jean  Francois,  sleur  de  Fossen- 
euve.  Agreed  to  go  to  Detroit  to  serve 
as  a  hunter.  July  lo.  1703.  He  was  born 
in  1670.  and  married  Marguerite  Godfroy 
June   6.    1701. 

Xaintonge.  .  When  I  first  encoun- 
tered this  name  it  stood  alone  without  any 
connecting  names.  I  concluded  it  was  an 
Indian  name  and  so  stated.  Further  in- 
vestigation has  led  me  to  conclude  that 
I  was  greatly  mistaken,  and  that  the  In- 
dividual was  named  Pierre  Gareau.  d  t 
St.  Onge.  and  that  the  name  St.  OiiRe 
has  been  gradualllv  changed  to  Salntonge 
and   from   that  to  Xalntonge. 

Zerbain,   Pierre,    dlt   St.    Pierre,    a   soldier. 


FK.  DENISSEN'S  LETTI'R. 


Detroit,  Micb..  Nov.  9th.  1896. 
Dear  Friend  Burton: 

1  hiivc  Vi'iid  with  relish  yt>ur  series  of  artlcloa  and  tlie  Directory  of 
Detroit  from  1701  to  1710,  as  published  in  tiie  Sundoy  News-Tribune. 

'IMio  many  new  facts  you  furnisli  on  that  interesting  i»eriod  of  De- 
troit's infancy  must  be  very  acct'ptable  to  every  lover  of  local  history. 

Xo  directory  can  be  complete  withctut  a  full  and  well  authenticated 
list  of  all  the  ofticers,  soldiers  and  civilians  who  arrived  here  with 
radillac"  on  the  24th  of  July,  1701.  In  your  indefati}:abh>  researches,  1 
liojie  you  will  yet  t\v.d  all  the  names  of  the  whole  party  wlio  founded 
Fort  rontchartriin  at  t.lie  Detroit.  You  have  the  taste,  tlie  means,  and 
the  ability  to  Iv/lng  to  llRht  that  coveted  treasure.  Cadillac  must  have 
made  a  record  of  all  tJiose  enuan^d  by  him  to  undertake  that  ditflcult 
expedition  from  Montreal  to  Detroit,  to  establish  that  well-planned  post 
for  the  French  (Jovernment.  lie  always  gave  such  an  elaborate  ac- 
count of  himself,  his  doings,  his  surroundings  and  his  plans;  certainly 
he  did  not  omit  to  record  the  full  particulars  of  the  greatest  achieve- 
ment of  liis  military  life,  the  founding  of  tlie  most  imjxn-tant  post  in 
the  Nortliwest  of  America,  a  work  entirely  his  own,  in  concei)tion  and 
execution.  He  made  his  prejiarations  in  Montreal;  there  he  selected 
with  care  men  who  could  stand  tlie  hardships  of  this  arduous  task. 
He  must  have  liad  a  list  of  his  soldi«'rs,  for  all  had  to  be  paid  regularly; 
the  civilians  who  accompanied  him  must  have  made  agreements  with 
their  leader,  for  they  were  in  quest  of  gain.  Written  contracts  signed 
before  a  notary  were  the  fashion  In  those  days. 

Cadillac  and  his  party  took  tlie  Ottawa  route  to  Detroit.  The 
French  voyag(>urs  of  those  times  had  calculated  with  precision  the 
difficulties  of  tlieir  trii)s.  Coming  west,  they  favored  the  Ottawa  route; 
going  east,  tliey  preferred  traveling  by  tlie  Niagara  ri>rtage;  this  gave 
thcni  as  much  a,s  p<tssible  the  lienertt  of  the  water-current. 

Cadilh.c  arrivefl  in  the  Detroit  River  and  selected  his  landing  place 
on  the  24th  of  ,Tuly,  1701,    Immediately  the  party  went  to  work  to  pro- 


I 


FR.  DENISSEN'S  LETTER.  87 

cure  Hholtcr  for  thomselvoH,  On  the  8t>cond  day  nftcr  their  hindlu>», 
tho  26th  of  July,  on  the  feast  of  St.  Aiiu,  the  priests,  tlu>  government 
fhii plains  of  the, party,  held  religious  services  for  the  new  .settlers,  and 
muss  was  celebrated  for  the  lirst  time  at  Detroit;  the  liicii)ient  church 
was  dedh-ated.  on  account  of  the  fea.st  of  the  day,  to  St.  Ann.  and  St. 
Ann's  elnnvh  has  nMuained  to  this  day  the  mother  church  of  Detroit. 

There  is  no  account  tliat  any  white  man  ha<l  his  abode  al  th(>  De- 
trr "1  River  previous  to  ("adillac  You  i)roved  .satisfactorily  that  uelth'>r 
Peter  Roy  nor  .foseph  I'arent  could  have  been  liere  bef(H'e  JiUy  of  1701. 
There  is  no  >;nnind  for  the  belief  that  a  Francis  Peltier  preceded 
Cadilliic.  It  could  not  liave  be3n  Francis  Peltier,  tlie  son  of  Fraud" 
Peltier  and  .M;;rKaret  MaKdelene  Morisseau,  foi-  he  died  in  Lower 
Canada  before  1698;  his  widow,  .Majrdelene  Thunay,  dit  Dufresue, 
marrlt^l  aualn  at  .Montreal  ou  the  9th  of  January,  1698,  Peter  Malllet. 
His  son.  John  Francis  Peltier,  born  at  Sorel.  liOwer  r!ui;i(hi.  August 
1.S,  1691,  came  to  Detroit  with  liis  stei>falher"s  family  almut  the  year 
1705-06,  and  nuirried  there  March  25,  1718,  Mary  Louisa  Robert. 

Peter  Roy  married,  probably  in  1703,  a  Miamis  Indian,  and  took 
up  his  residence  In  the  village  of  the  Miamis.  wlio  had  been  imluced  by 
Cadillac  to  come  f;nd  settle  nt  ir  Detroit. 

Cadilhic  mif^ht  have  wished  that  the  men  of  his  pai-fy  m.arry  Indian 
women,  but  Peter  Roy  is  about  tlie  only  one  who  did  so.  Tliose  vigor- 
ous pione<>rs  did  not  shape  their  love  affairs  on  the  utilitarian  plan. 
The  younfr  men  jrrew  lonesome  in  tills  wilderness,  and  their  thoughts 
would  w'ander  back  to  the  gills  they  left  behind  them.  Permission 
was  readily  gninted  to  any  one  wlio  wanted  to  return  to  I-ower  C'lnada 
to  secure  a  bride.  According  as  these  treasures  wer«'  imported  to  De- 
troit, the  place  grew  more  civilized,  and  the  inhabitants  felt  more  at 
home,  and  contented.  The  French  of  Detroit  and  vicinity  never  inter- 
married with  the  Indians  to  any  great  extent;  there  liave  Iteen  a  few 
exceptional  cases,  but  such  marriages  w«'re  rare.  and.  Ivecanse  so  rare, 
they  were  all  the  more  noticed.  No  bride  suits  the  Frencli  licart  as 
rt^ell  as  the  frank,  modest,  polite,  charming  French  maiden,  who  has 
the  desirable  faculty  to  grace  her  home  as  a  (pieeu  and  bring  happi- 
ness to  her  surroundings.  In  the  eighteenth  century  the  girls  m.-irried 
very  young.  The  marriage  bond  was  considered  indissoluble;  divorces 
were  unknown;  scandah)us  inlidelitit'.s,  at  least  on  tlie  part  of  the 
women,  .seem -not  to  have  occurred.  Marriages  were  contracted  witli 
all  the  precautions  with  which  the  Church  guards  that  sacred  contract. 
The  settlers  of  the  outposts  were  in  constant  communication  with  tlie 
people  of  Lower  Canada.  They  knew  eacli  ot.lier  iiiul  their  niarriago 
relations.  It  was  almost  impossible  for  a  man  to  ab.'indon  his  lawful 
wife  In  Lower  Canada  and  marry  surreptitiously  in  Detroit  or  vicinity. 


3S  FR.  DENISSEN'S  LETTER. 

Tilt'  Freiifli  lionic  witli  its  coiitonlednoss,  iiiiule  the  niaintcnaiico  of 
Fort  routchartraiu  jit  Detroit  feasible.  Detroit  owes  ujucli  to  the 
French  luotliers  of  the  oig'hteentli  century. 

Your  directory  sliows  wluit  sh—e  tlu»y  liad  durin>x  the  lirst  teu 
years  of  our  city's  existi'uce. 

Alh>\v  me  to  nialvc  a  few  interpolations  in  yorr  jircat  \vorl<.  Ayniard 
seems  to  rfle  to  be  tlie  correct  spellinij:  for  lleniart  or  .Mainiart.  Tht> 
name  is  jriven  also  as  Adhemard  and  llayniard.  Peter  Ayinard  mar- 
ried at  Lachine.  June  12,  1706.  Mary  Ann  Lalande,  <liL  Filiastreau, 
born  at  Lachine,  Fel)ruary  18,  1685,  daujrliter  of  Stephen  Lalande  and 
Nicole  Filiastreau.     Peter  Aymard  returned  to  liachine  in  1710-11. 

.hdiau  i^iariteau.  dit  Lamarche,  did  not  remain  in  Detroit.  His 
grandson,  Charles  Bariteau,  dit  Lamarche.  born  at  Lonj;neuil,  Lower 
Canada,  May  26,  1743,  settled  at  Detroit,  and  married  there  January  7, 
1783,  Jane  Bernard.  lie  moved  to  Sandwich,  Out.,  a  few  years  later, 
where  he  died  September  24,  1810.  The  fandly  of  Bariteau,  dit  La- 
marche. and  their  descendants  i-emaiued  in  the  vicinity  of  Sandwich 
even  to  the  iiresent  day. 

The  brothers  Bazinet,  Peter  and  Joseph,  did  not  take  up  their  resi- 
dence in  Detroit.  Joseph's  grandson  moved  to  Detroit  and  married 
tliere  July  12,  1784,  Mary  Louisa  Meloche. 

Peter's  grandson,  John  liOuis  Bazinet, moved withhisfaniilytoSand- 
wich.  Out.  Some  of  his  descendants  moved  to  Detroit;  many  of  them 
are  r(>sidiug  at  present  at  Mt.  ('leniens,  at  the  Clinton  Uiver,  near  New 
Baltimore,  an<l  near  Si,  Clair  River. 

Francis  Bicnvenu.  dit  Delisle.  came  to  Detroit  with  his  family  be- 
fore March,  1704  Jlis  son  Joseph  was  born  at  Detroit  Manh  5,  1704, 
and  twelve  of  his  fourteen  children  were  born  at  Detroit.  Tynguay 
states  that  his  son  Alex's  Bienvenu,  dit  Delisle.  was  born  ;it  Detroit 
in  1701.  I  do  not  see  what  evidence  Tanguay  could  have  for  this  as- 
sertion. The  registers  of  Detroit  for  1701-02-03  were  burned.  I  sup- 
pose this  is  a.  misprint  in  Tanguay.  The  same  author  gives  a  son 
Aiilhony.  from  the  lirst  marriage,  who  married  at  Kaskakia.  June  3, 
1726,  Frances  Kabut.  This  Anthony  must  have  been  a  resident  of 
Detroit. 

Andrew  Bombardier  was  born  in  tli(>  City  of  Lille.  Belgium.  He 
left  Detroit  after  1709.  and  remained  in  Lower  Canadii.  His  grandson, 
Philip  Homl>ardier.  dit  Iiabomi)arde,  moved  with  his  family  to  Sand- 
wich. Ont.,  about  1788.  where  his  descendants  can  be  fOund  at  t^e 
present  day. 

Charles  Cabassler  came  t-^  Detroit  on  business.  His  son.  .Tosepli 
Cabassier,  born  at  Montreal  May  2.  1722,  came  to  Detroit  and  marrie*} 

* 
I 

* 


FR.  DENISSEN'S  LETTER.  .jg 

there  JanuaiT  10.  1752,  Angelica  Bienvemi,  dit  Delisle.    His  descond-mts 
are  still  in  Detroit  or  viciuity. 

Anthony    Cjinipau,    born    at    Montreal   .Tanuary    1.    1702-    Michael 
Canumn,  lK)rn  at  Montreal  January  22.  1706,  children  of  Michael  Cam 
pau,  were  resident.s  of  Detroit.  ' 

Henry  Canipau.  born  at  Montreal  December  3,  1704  and  M-iry  \nn 
Cecilia  Canipa..,  born  at  Montreal  .Inne  21.  1707,  children  of  James 
Campau,  were  residents  of  Detroit  before  1710. 

Paul  Duniou'-hel  was  in  Detroit  on  business  and  did  not  settle 
there.  His  son,  Paul  Duniouchel,  Iwrn  at  Montreal  January  11  1717 
came  to  Detroit,  married  there  January  16.  1/49,  Jane  Chapotou! 
dau;,^htcr  of  Dr.  J..hn  Chapoton,  and  Mary  Masdelene  Esteve.  His 
wife  died  the  n.^xt  year,  and  he  returned  to  Lower  Canada.  Louis 
\ital  Dumouchel,  born  at  Montreal  Deeenil)er  12,  1745  prandson  of 
Paul  Duniouchel.  Sr.,  came  to  Sandwich.  Out.,  and  married  there  No- 
vember 22,  1773,  Ma^delene  Gouyou.  They  are  the  ancestors  of  all  the 
DumoucheLs  of  the  vicinity  of  Sandwich  and  Amhorstburg. 

John  Le  Due,  who  paid  a  visit  to  Detroit  October  11,  1710  moved 
there  with  his  family  about  the  year  1732.  Many  of  his  descendants 
reside  in  Detroit  and  vi'cinity  at  the  present  day. 

Kene  Maillet  was  a  brother  of  Peter  Maillet.  He  did  not  remain 
in  Detroit;  some  of  his  ),'randcliil(lren  settled  there. 

John  Francis  Peltier,  born  at  Sorel,  Lower  Canada  August  15  1691 
was  a  <ntizen  of  Detroit.  His  father,  Francis  Peltier,  died  in  Low^r 
Canada  before  1698.  Youns  Jolin  Francis  came  to  I )etroit.  wit  h  his  step- 
father's family,  about  the  year  1705-06.  He  married  at  Detroit,  :^Iary 
Louisa  Robert,  daughter  of  Peter  Robert  and  Auffeliea  Ptolomee  He 
w/is  buried  there,  about  the  -year  1723.  He  is  the  forefather  of  the 
numerous  Peltiers  of  Detroit.  Monroe,  Toledo.  Mt.  Clemens.  Port  Huron 
etc.  II(>  is  the  j^reat-great-preat-grandfather  of  Priscdla  Mary  Ann 
Peltier,  wife  of  Alexander  Chapoton,  our  well-known  contractor. 

Mary  Peltier,  born  in  1697,  sister  of  John  Francis  Peltier,  also  came 
to  D(>troit  with  her  stepfather. 

Mary  Louisa  Robert,  born  at  T^chine  December  15,  1698.  came  to 
Detroit  May  19,  1708,  with  her  parents.  Peter  Robert  and  Angelic.-, 
Ptolome.  She  married  John  Francis  Peltier.  After  his  death  she  mar- 
ried again,  at  Detroit,  January  7.  1725.  .John  Louis  Campau  Slic  was 
buried  at  Detroit  April  2.  1776.  She  is  the  great-great-gramlmother  of 
Daniel  .T.  Campau.  of  our  city.  Peter  Robert,  born  at  Lachine  Novem- 
ber ;,.  1704,  is  a  brother  of  above  Mary  Louisa.  He  is  the  ancestor  of 
many  of  the  Roberts  of  Monroe  and  vicinity. 

Robert  Reaume,  brother  of  Charles  Reaume,  together  with  Joseph 
Trotier,  dit  Desruis.seaux,  and  Toussaint  Pothier,  dii  La  verdure,  was 


40  FR.  D-NISSEN'S  LETTER. 

enp;a^e<l  on  the  5th  of  Septembfr,  1701,  to  oscort  ]SIrs.  De  Lamothe 
Cadillac,  Mrs.  Alphonse  Tontl  and  their  children  from  Montreal  to  De- 
troit, and  at  the  BOjine  time  to  accompany  Francis  Mary  Picote  de 
Belestre  and  equipages  on  the  same  trip.  Mrs.  Cadillac's  cousin,  Mary 
Guyou,  was  married  to  Keue  Keuume,  brother  of  this  Robert.  Robert 
Reaume  did  not  settle  in  Detroit.  His  sous,  Hyaeiuthe  and  Peter 
Roaume,  became  residents  of  Detroit  after  their  marriaye,  aud  are  the 
forefathers  of  all  the  Reauu'es  of  this  vicinity. 

Alphonse  Tonti,  Baron  of  Paludy,  born  in  1669,  came  to  Canada  in 
the  luilitary  service  of  the  French  Government.  In  1687,  he  passed 
through  the  Detroit  River,  having  orders  to  join  Daniel  Dulutli  do 
Greyzelon,  who  then  built  u  stockade,  called  Fort  St.  Joseph,  at  the 
mouth  of  Lake  Huron,  where  now  is  Fort  Gratiot.  This  palisade  was 
destroyed  a  year  later.  Alphoi  >e  Tonti  accompanied  Cadillac,  as  cap- 
tain of  the  militai-y  expedition,  to  establish  Fort  Pontchartrain  at  the 
Detroit,  in  1701.  Jealous  of  Cadillac,  and  encouraged  by  his  (Cadillac's) 
enemies,  he  plotted  the  failure  and  destruction  of  the  post  at  Detroit. 
This  led  to  the  incendiary  th-e  in  the  fort  of  Detroit,  in  the  latter  part 
of  1703,  when  the  church,  the  house  of  the  Recolets  and  the  parish 
records  were  burned.  History  sustained  an  irreparable  loss  by  the 
burning  of  those  registers,  containing  the  births,  marriages,  deaths  aud 
historical  notes  of  the  three  infantile  years  of  Detroit.  Beyond  doubt, 
the  baptism  of  Tonti's  daughter  Teresa  was  registered  in  those  books. 
Tliis  Teresa  Tonti  is  the  first  child  born  in  Detroit,  of  whom  we  have 
any  certainty.  Tonti  married  at  Montreal  February  17,  1689,  Mary 
Ann  IMcote  de  Belestre,  born  at  Montreal  February  9,  1673,  daughter 
of  I'eter  Picote  de  Belestre  and  Mary  Pars.  Mary  Ann  IMcote  de  Belestre 
was  buried  at  Montreal  Sept.  11,  1714.  Alphonse  Tonti  married  again 
at  Montreal  May  3,  1717,  Mary  Ann  La  Marque.  Alphonse  Tonti  was 
commandant  of  Fort  Pontchartrain  of  Detroit,  from  1720  to  1727,  in 
whicli  year  he  died,  aud  was  buried  at  Detroit  November  10.  T>ie 
following  Tontl  children  must  have  resided  at  Detroit  previous  to  1710. 
Pliilip  Tonti,  born  at  Montreal  September  30,  1689;  Mary  Fran<.'e^ 
Tonti,  born  at  Montreal  October  19,  1690,  became  a  nun  of  the  Congre- 
gation of  Notre  Dame,  by  the  name  of  Sister  St.  Anthony;  she  was 
buried  at  Montreal  June  14,  1748;  Alphonse  Tonti,  born  at  Montreal 
October  30,  1691;  Mary  Helena  Tontl,  born  at  Montreal  February  22, 
1693;  Louis  Tonti,  born  at  Montreal  February  25,  1694,  Avas  buried  there 
December  12,  1715;  Henry  Hector  Tonti,  born  at  Montreal  December 
21,  1695;  Charles  Henry  Tontl.  bom  at  Montreal  May  13.  1697.  became 
governor  of  Fort  St.  Louis;  Claude  Joseph  Tonti,  born  at  Montreal 
August  18,  1700;  Teresa  Tonti,  born  at  Detroit,  in  1703. 

Tuffe,  dit  Dufresue,  Antoine.     This  name  is  also  found  as  Tuve. 


m 


Tuve. 


FR.  DENISSEN'S  LETTER.  4t 

The  correct  name  is  Thunay,  dit  Dufresne,  Anthony,  born  in  1680,  son 
of  Felix  TJuumy,  dit  Dufresne  and  Isulwlle  Left'bvre.  Autliony's  sis- 
ter, MaKdoleue,  mari-ied  Francis  Felti«M*,  and,  after  his  dcalh,  Peter 
Maillt't.  His  otlier  sister,  Margaret,  married  Toussaint  I'otliier,  dit 
Laverdure,  wlio  escorttnl  Mrs.  Cadillac  and  Mi's.  Tonti  to  Detroit. 

In  one  of  your  articles  you  say:  "I  confess  that  1  do  not  under- 
stand how  the  old  French  names  arc  made  ui)."  The  various  chanj^oa 
of  French  names  are  truly  a  puzzle  to  the  student  of  genealogy.  The 
following  explanations  and  illustrations,  1  think,  will  account  for  most 
of  those  innovations: 

1.  The  early  colonists  of  Lower  Canada  obtained  from  the  French 
Government  grants  of  extensive  tracts  of  laud.  Tliese  grants  were 
executed  in  the  mediaeval  phraseology  used  under  the  feu<lal  system 
of  holding  estate.  The  settlers  assuming  a  resemblance  between  their 
holdings  and  the  domains  of  the  French  barons  and  "seigneurs,"  called 
their  large,  wild  farms  by  certain  titles,  and  attixed  the  same  to  their 
own  family  names,  in  imitation  of  the  European  nobility.  In  some 
cases  these  titles  were  coniirmed  i>y  the  governnu^ut.  The  owners  of 
these  vast  estates  considered  themselves  seigneurs  of  this  new  country, 
and  were  very  proud  of  the  affixes  to  their  names.  In  business  trans- 
actions these  additions  to  their  signatures  were  used  with  all  their 
flourislies.  At  baptisms  the  title  had  to  be  entered  in  the  parish  reg- 
isters; at  marriages  the  affix  to  the  old  family  name  sounded  high 
both  for  bride  and  groom  in  the  verbose  marriage  contract;  respecta- 
bility was  increased  by  the  presence  of  many  witnesses  with  titled 
names.  In  this  nuiuner  the  owners  of  large  estates  in  Lower  Canada, 
at  a  certain  period  of  the  seventeenth  century,  looked  upon  themselves 
and  upon  each  other  as  a  quasi-nobility.  Their  children  naturally  as- 
sumed those  titles  and  often  thouglit  more  of  the  affixes  than  of  their 
own  family  names.  Feudalism  was  about  dead,  and  fast  dying  in 
Europe  in  those  days,  and  therefore  could  not  gain  foothold  in  America. 
In  the  elgliteenth  century  we  do  not  tind  new  titles  originating;  still 
the  old  ones  remained.  The  grandchildren  ami  great-grandchihlreu  of 
these  titled  pioneers  often  discarded  tlie  old  family  name  and  were 
known  only  by  the  new  title.  Hence  the  new  names  that  the  gen- 
ealogist has  to  contend  with.  As  an  illustration,  take  the  Trotior 
family.  The  Trotiers  of  America  all  descend  from  Julius  Trotier,  born 
In  1590,  in  the  parish  of  St.  Martin,  in  the  Town  of  Ige.  in  the  province 
of  Perehe,  France.  He,  seemingly  a  common  citizen,  came  with  hia 
family  to  Canada  about  the  year  1645.  His  childi-en  married  in  Canada, 
and,  in  the  course  of  time,  had  large  families.  They  obtaine<l  extensive 
estates  and  were  very  lavish  in  originating  titles  for  the  same.  In  a 
few  years  we  find  Trotier  Sleur  des  Ruisseaux,  Trotior  Seigneur  de 


42 


FR.  DENISSEN'S  LETTER. 


risle  Porrot,  Trotier  Sieiir  de  Beaubien,  Trotler  Seigneur  ile  la  Riviere 
du  liOup.  Trotier  Seij?neur  de  I'lsle  aux  Herons,  Ti-otier  Sieur  des 
Auliiiers,  Trotier  de  la  Bissoniiiere,  TVotier  dit  Desrivieres,  Trotier  de 
Belleeour,  Trotier  de  Valcour.  etc.  Many  of  tliese  Trotiers  gradually 
dropped  tlie  family  name  and  signed  only  the  assumed  title.  Hence 
we  have  the  families  of  Beaubien,  Desruisseaux,  D»^.iulnlers,  Belleeour, 
Labissounlere,  Desrivieres,  Devalcour,  etc.  All  theisc  trace  to  a  common 
ancestor,  Julius  Trotier. 

2.  Another  cause  of  the  change  of  French  names  was  the  custom 
so  prevalent  in  former  times,  of  nicknaming  themselves  and  others. 
This  was  done  sometimes  to  discera  one  family  from  another  of  the 
same  name;  as  a  family  Baron  was  nicknamed  Lupien— Baron  dit  Lupien 
—to  distinguish  it  from  other  Baron  families,  Lup'eu  being  the  Chris- 
tian name  of  the  ancestor  of  that  family  in  this  country.  At  other  oc- 
casions t/ho*niclvname  originated  through  family  pride;  when  a  mem- 
ber was  distinguished,  that  branch  of  a  family  would  annex  the  Chris- 
tian name  of  the  hero,  or,  if  a  woman,  the  family  name  of  the  revered 
heroine.  In  this  manner  some  Cuilleriers  lost  their  own  name  through 
the  marriage  of  John  Cuillerier  with  Mary  Catherine  Trotier  de  Beau- 
bien; this  lady  was  distinguished  through  her  family  title  of  Beaubien, 
and  after  John  Cuillerier's  death,  by  becoming  the  wife  of  Francis 
Plcoto  de  Belestre,  an  officer  of  Fort  Pontchartrain.  On  this  account 
her  children  from  the  first  marriage  signed  themselves  Cuillerier  dit 
Beaubien,  and  in  later  generations  Cuillerier  was  dropped  and  nothing 
was  left  bUt  Beaubien.  These  are  the  Beaubiens  of  our  vicinity. 
Another  instance  of  the  same  kind  we  find  in  the  family  of  Leonard. 
Leon.'ird  Simon,  born  at  Montreal,  September  3,  16i)6,  was  considered 
by  his  descendants  to  have  been  a  great  man,  consequently  the  family 
name  became  Simon  dit  Leonard;  in  time  the  old  name  Simon  was 
dropped  and  Leonard  became  the  family  name.  These  Leonards  we 
find  '"  Monroe  and  viciuiity  in  great  abundance.  Again  families  {glorify- 
ing the  section  of  country  their  forefatliers  came  from,  added  to  their 
names  the  province,  city  or  town  of  their  ancestor.  In  this  manner  the 
Sedilot  family,  who  came  from  the  City  of  Montreuil,  in  IMcardy, 
France,  became  Sedilot  dit  Montreuil,  and  later  on  are  simply  Mon- 
treuil. So  it  was  with  Casse,  who  originated  from  the  town  of  St. 
Aubin;  they  became  Casse  dit  St.  Aubin.  and  now  are  only  St.  Aubin. 
The  same  we  find  in  Bourgeat,  wbo  came  from  the  province  of  Pro- 
vence; they  adopted  Bourgeat  dit  Provencal,  and  now  are  Provencal. 
We  meet  with  the  same  case  in  the  family  of  Lootman,  who  are  of 
Holland  origin,  and  moved  from  the  Netherlands  to  the  province  of 
Berry,  Franc*;  they  became  in  Canada  Lootman  dit  Barrols,  later  on 
In  Detroit  we  find  them  as  Barrois.     The  same  Is  true  of  Toulouse, 


FR.  DENISSEN'S  LETTER.  ^ 

Champagne,  Gascon,  Langoumols,  and  many  others.  There  are  ni^k 
names  that  originated  from  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  birth  like 
Nicolas  Campau  dit  xNlagara.  who  was  born  at  the  Portage  of  Niagara 
when  his  parents  were  traveling  from  Detroit  to  Montreal  It  hap- 
pened, also,  that  nicknames  were  given  by  Indians,  as  Labadie  dit 
Badichon,  Peltier  dit  Antaya.  Nicknames  have  also  been  given  frivol- 
ously and  would  stick  in  future  generations,  as  in  the  family  of 
Poissant,  sounding  like  Poisson  (fish),  by  adding  Lasaline  (salt).  Pois- 
sant  dit  Lasaline  (saltflsh).  Another  way  of  nicknaming  was  by  adopt- 
ing a  peculiar  Christian  name  by  which  a  certain  person  was  known 
in  the  community;  so  we  find  in  the  family  of  Le  Tourneux,  a  Jean 
Baptiste  Le  Tourneux,  who  settled  in  Sandwich,  opposite  the  Michigan 
Central  Depot  of  present  Detroit,  about  110  years  ago.  He  was  known 
by  everyone  as  Jeanuette  (the  diminutive  name  of  Jean);  by  iu<orrect 
spelling  he  became  Janet  and  Jauette,  lience  Le  Tourneux  dit  Janette. 
His  numerous  descendants  are  called  Janette.  From  him  we  have 
Janette  street  in  Windsor,  Ont.,  and  farther  west  Janette's  Creek,  and 
Janette  railroad  station. 

The  most  curious  way  of  changing  of  names  we  find  in  the  family 
of  Ellair  or  Elaire.  Tlio  common  ancestor  is  Ililaire  Suieuu,  wbo 
came  from  France  and  married  at  Quebec  June  18.  1691.  His  son's 
nanie  was  Peter  bureau  dit  Blondin,  who  married  at  Montreal  in  1723; 
and  his  children  signed  themselves  Blondin  dit  Ililaire.  Their  descend- 
ants were  named  Ililaire,  and  in  Detroit  the  name  has  been  corrupted 
to  Ellair. 

Other  modes  might  be  mentioned.  It  is  singular  tliat  scarcely  a 
name  has  been  adopted  from  the  trade,  occupation  or  profession  that  a 
person  folloAved. 

These  nicknames  are  attached  to  the  name  proper  by  the  word 
"dit,"  which  might  be  rendered  in  our  language  by  "oallod,"  "named." 
"namely,"  "to  wit,"  "known  as;"  but  "dit"  is  so  idiomatically  French 
that  it  can  hardly  be  translated  into  English. 

Tiie  suppression  of  "s"  in  some  names,  as  from  Chesne  to  Chene, 
Estienno  to  Etienne.  is  accounted  for  by  the  evolution  of  the  French 
language  from  the  old  form  to  the  modern  way  of  spelling. 

I  hope.  Mr.  Burton,  that  my  explanations  may  assist  you  in  the 
great  work,  which  seems  to  you  a  pleasure. 

Yours  sincerely, 

CHRISTIAN  DENISSEN, 
Pastor  of  St.  Charles',  Detroit. 


K4SX 


